| Download | - View final version: A wind tunnel study of ram air effects on the air side cooling system performance of a typical North American passenger car (PDF, 29.6 MiB)
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| DOI | Resolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.4224/40003599 |
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| Author | Search for: Schaub, U. W.1 |
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| Affiliation | - National Research Council Canada. Division of Mechanical Engineering
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| Format | Text, Technical Report |
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| Physical description | 134 p. |
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| Abstract | A standard engine mounted cooling fan in a 1976 Ford Granada equipped with air conditioning and a 302 cu. in. V-8 engine was performance-tested under wind tunnel generated ram air conditions. Fan performance was measured under cold (ambient) radiator conditions. To do this the fan was powered normally by the engine while the engine was cooled externally by means of a slave radiator. To achieve appropriate back pressure variation the whole engine bay was pressurized through use of remotely placed plant exhauster machinery.
System resistance was studied over a range of ram air conditions, and was shown to be composed of a ram air loss, a stationary vehicle front end loss, an engine bay blockage loss, and the radiator cooling air dynamic pressure, or face head. Ram air and cooling air flow caused engine bay pressure to be slightly positive relative to the ambient static pressure level.
Fan pressure-flow characteristics were measured for various fan speeds and three ram conditions. These were observed to correlate as one universal map. This universal characteristic together with the measured front end resistances and ram pressure was interpreted as series-operated fans consisting of a supercharging first stage and the cooling fan acting as a second stage.
This equivalent model and the identified resistance mechanisms facilitated accurate prediction of cooling fan performance at any ram air condition.
The power dedicated to achieve cooling was shown to consist of fan input power and ram air power contributions. Estimates showed that cooling air moved by the fan alone was less power consuming than when the cooling air is moved jointly by the fan and ram pressure. |
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| Publication date | 1978-07-04 |
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| Publisher | National Research Council Canada |
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| Series | |
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| Language | English |
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| Peer reviewed | No |
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| Export citation | Export as RIS |
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| Report a correction | Report a correction (opens in a new tab) |
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| Record identifier | c1e72865-82eb-41f0-86f3-c854dbd657a5 |
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| Record created | 2025-08-19 |
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| Record modified | 2025-11-03 |
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