Cost Effective Method for the Evaluation of a Formula SAE Engine Cooling System

Overheating issues on the University of Illinois’s Formula SAE cars prompted a study evaluating the cooling module performance. The challenge faced by many Formula SAE teams internationally is a large limit on their budget and resources as well as their short development cycle. The developed experimental method needed to be straight-forward and to use the limited equipment available and supplied by the university. A simple and cost effective method for analyzing the heat carrying capacity of the cooling module on the Formula SAE vehicles was developed. Simple fixtures were designed and built in order to equip the Formula SAE car with sensors able to acquire the necessary data in order to calculate the heat carrying capacities of the air flowing through the heat exchanger and the water flowing through the engine. Physical testing was successfully carried out under driving conditions whenever possible to attain the most applicable results. The University of Illinois’s 2009 Formula SAE car was tested to determine the effectiveness of its cooling system and to identify problem areas. It was found that design changes made from 2008 to 2009 did provide a significant increase in the capacity of the cooling module to adequately cool the Honda F4i engine on the Formula SAE car. In addition, the cooling capacity of the system was quantified for the first time for the Formula SAE team. Results from this research laid groundwork for future improvements on the Formula SAE car to be quickly and cheaply evaluated and compared with previous baselines using the tools available from the university and avoiding guess work.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2010

Author dc:creator

• Korczak, Paul E.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Philpott, Michael L.

• Formula SAE
• cooling system
• radiator

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2009 Paul E. Korczak

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/14676

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/14676