Thermal Management of Vehicle Cabins, External Surfaces, and Onboard Electronics: An Overview

Abstract Reducing heat accumulation within vehicles and ensuring appropriate vehicular temperature levels can lead to enhanced vehicle fuel economy, range, reliability, longevity, passenger comfort, and safety. Advancements in vehicle thermal management remain key as new technologies, consumer demand, societal concerns, and government regulations emerge and evolve. This study summarizes several recent advances in vehicle thermal management technology and modeling, with a focus on three key areas: the cabin, electronics, and exterior components of vehicles. Cabin-related topics covered include methods for reducing thermal loads and improving heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems; and advancements in window glazing/tinting and vehicle surface treatments. For the thermal management of electronics, including batteries and insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), active and passive cooling methods that employ heat pipes, heat sinks, jet impingement, forced convection, and phase-change materials are discussed. Finally, efforts to model and enhance the heat transfer of exterior vehicular components are reviewed while considering drag/friction forces and environmental effects. Despite advances in the field of vehicle thermal management, challenges still exist; this article provides a broad summary of the major issues, with recommendations for further study.

[1]  Jeffrey A. Bozeman,et al.  Energy Efficiency Impact of Localized Cooling , 2014 .

[3]  Wei Wang,et al.  Experimental investigation on an integrated thermal management system with heat pipe heat exchanger for electric vehicle , 2016 .

[4]  Saeid Nahavandi,et al.  Coordinated energy management of vehicle air conditioning system , 2011 .

[5]  Yeong-Jyh Lin,et al.  Temperature prediction of rolling tires by computer simulation , 2004, Math. Comput. Simul..

[6]  Ronnen Levinson,et al.  Potential benefits of solar reflective car shells: Cooler cabins, fuel savings and emission reductions , 2011 .

[7]  R. Hester,et al.  Single-Phase Self-Oscillating Jets for Enhanced Heat Transfer , 2008, 2008 Twenty-fourth Annual IEEE Semiconductor Thermal Measurement and Management Symposium.

[8]  Nikolaus A. Adams,et al.  Aerodynamic Investigation of Vehicle Cooling-Drag, , 2012 .

[9]  X. Z. Lin,et al.  Transient temperature field analysis of a brake in a non-axisymmetric three-dimensional model , 2002 .

[10]  Robert A. Taylor,et al.  Analysis and Testing of a Portable Thermal Battery , 2014 .

[11]  Aditya Velivelli,et al.  Optimum Seat Cooling Distribution for Targeted Human Thermal Comfort , 2017 .

[12]  Vincent Ayel,et al.  Experimental investigation of a pulsating heat pipe for hybrid vehicle applications , 2013 .

[13]  L. Chow,et al.  Thermal Management of Power Inverter Modules at High Fluxes via Two-Phase Spray Cooling , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology.

[14]  M. A. Fayazbakhsh,et al.  Comprehensive Modeling of Vehicle Air Conditioning Loads Using Heat Balance Method , 2013 .

[15]  Zhonghao Rao,et al.  Experimental study of an OHP-cooled thermal management system for electric vehicle power battery , 2014 .

[16]  Samuel Frimpong,et al.  Effect of Ambient Temperature on Stress, Deformation and Temperature of Dump Truck Tire , 2012 .

[17]  Kannan M Munisamy,et al.  Disk brake design for cooling improvement using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) , 2013 .

[18]  Numerical Simulation of Transient Thermal Convection of a Full Vehicle , 2011 .

[19]  Weui-Bong Jeong,et al.  Numerical estimation of rolling resistance and temperature distribution of 3-D periodic patterned tire , 2013 .

[20]  John Manning,et al.  Strategy for Efficient Automotive Climate Control , 2007 .

[21]  Simon Watkins,et al.  Reduced Drag and Adequate Cooling for Passenger Vehicles Using Variable Area Front Air Intakes , 2006 .

[22]  Jason Lustbader,et al.  Reduction in Vehicle Temperatures and Fuel Use from Cabin Ventilation, Solar-Reflective Paint, and a New Solar-Reflective Glazing , 2007 .

[23]  Mingyu Wang,et al.  Development of Next Generation Automatic Climate Control , 2007 .

[24]  Bing Xu,et al.  Fuel Economy Impact of Grille Opening and Engine Cooling Fan Power on a Mid-Size Sedan , 2013 .

[25]  M. Zaheer-uddin,et al.  Neuro-PID tracking control of a discharge air temperature system , 2004 .

[26]  Thomas H. Bradley,et al.  Estimating the HVAC energy consumption of plug-in electric vehicles , 2014 .

[27]  Taeyoung Han,et al.  Micro-Cooling/Heating Strategy for Energy Efficient HVAC System , 2011 .

[28]  A. Greco,et al.  A theoretical and computational study of lithium-ion battery thermal management for electric vehicles using heat pipes , 2014 .

[29]  Jochen Wiedemann,et al.  Investigations in a Cooling Air Flow System under the Influence of Road Simulation , 2008 .

[30]  José Guerra,et al.  The development and validation of a thermal model for the cabin of a vehicle , 2014 .

[31]  I. Mudawar,et al.  Two-phase spray cooling of hybrid vehicle electronics , 2008, 2008 11th Intersociety Conference on Thermal and Thermomechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems.

[32]  Amey Y. Karnik,et al.  Calibration and Demonstration of Vehicle Powertrain Thermal Management Using Model Predictive Control , 2017 .

[33]  C. W Fervers,et al.  Improved FEM simulation model for tire–soil interaction , 2004 .

[34]  Emeka H. Amalu,et al.  Thermal interface materials for automotive electronic control unit: Trends, technology and R&D challenges , 2011, Microelectron. Reliab..

[35]  Xingyi Huang,et al.  Vertically Aligned and Interconnected Boron Nitride Nanosheets for Advanced Flexible Nanocomposite Thermal Interface Materials. , 2017, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[36]  S. Narumanchi,et al.  Numerical simulations of nucleate boiling in impinging jets: Applications in power electronics cooling , 2008 .

[37]  Dena Hendriana,et al.  Multi-Disciplinary Aerodynamics Analysis for Vehicles: Application of External Flow Simulations to Aerodynamics, Aeroacoustics and Thermal Management of a Pickup Truck , 2007 .

[38]  Dazhi Wang,et al.  Design and Analysis of a Thermoelectric HVAC System for Passenger Vehicles , 2010 .

[39]  Filip Nielsen,et al.  Potential energy consumption reduction of automotive climate control systems , 2016 .

[40]  John P. Rugh,et al.  The Impact of Metal-free Solar Reflective Film on Vehicle Climate Control , 2001 .

[41]  Serge Bourbigot,et al.  Development of Phase Change Materials in Clothing Part I: Formulation of Microencapsulated Phase Change , 2010 .

[42]  W. H. Kolbe,et al.  The 1964 Cadillac Comfort Control , 1964 .

[43]  Jan Vetrovec.  High-Performance Heat Sink for Interfacing Hybrid Electric Vehicles Inverters to Engine Coolant Loop , 2011 .

[44]  Bernard Sahut,et al.  Experimental investigation on heat pipe cooling for Hybrid Electric Vehicle and Electric Vehicle lithium-ion battery , 2014 .

[45]  J. Rugh,et al.  Impact of Sungate EP on PHEV Performance: Results of a Simulated Solar Reflective Glass PHEV Dynamometer Test , 2009 .

[46]  W. Hirschberg,et al.  Investigation of the Thermal Vehicle Brake Behavior During the Vehicle's Development Phase by Co-Simulation , 2007 .

[47]  Ahmad Pesaran,et al.  Energy Efficient Battery Heating in Cold Climates , 2002 .

[48]  G. P. Peterson,et al.  An Introduction to Heat Pipes: Modeling, Testing, and Applications , 1994 .

[49]  Yuwen Zhang,et al.  Advances and Unsolved Issues in Pulsating Heat Pipes , 2008 .

[50]  B. Tang,et al.  Application of graphene as filler to improve thermal transport property of epoxy resin for thermal interface materials , 2015 .

[51]  Anastassios M. Stamatelos,et al.  Transient heat transfer modelling in automotive exhaust systems , 1997 .

[52]  Yuying Yan,et al.  A critical review of thermal management models and solutions of lithium-ion batteries for the development of pure electric vehicles , 2016 .

[53]  Nebojsa I. Jaksic,et al.  A feasibility study of electrochromic windows in vehicles , 2003 .

[54]  Prasad Shripad Kadle,et al.  Cooling with Augmented Heated and Cooled Seats , 2007 .

[55]  M. Fowler,et al.  Thermal modeling and validation of temperature distributions in a prismatic lithium-ion battery at different discharge rates and varying boundary conditions , 2016 .

[56]  Lei Wang,et al.  Review on thermal management systems using phase change materials for electronic components, Li-ion batteries and photovoltaic modules , 2014 .

[57]  Sylvester Abanteriba,et al.  The Development of Exhaust Surface Temperature Models for 3D CFD Vehicle Thermal Management Simulations Part 1 - General Exhaust Configurations , 2013 .

[58]  M. Kiliç,et al.  Experimental investigation of thermal comfort and air quality in an automobile cabin during the cooling period , 2012, Heat and Mass Transfer.

[59]  Cornelius Pfeifer,et al.  Evolution of Active Grille Shutters , 2014 .

[60]  Zhonghao Rao,et al.  A review of power battery thermal energy management , 2011 .

[61]  A. Piu,et al.  An Integrated Approach for Air Conditioning and Electrical System Impact on Vehicle Fuel Consumption and Performances Analysis: DrivEM 1.0 , 2007 .

[62]  Jong-Phil Won,et al.  Measurement and Evaluation of Heating Performance of Heat Pump Systems Using Wasted Heat from Electric Devices for an Electric Bus , 2012 .

[63]  T. Uno,et al.  Study of Cooling Drag Reduction Method by Controlling Cooling Flow , 2014 .

[64]  Lakshmikanth Meda,et al.  Exhaust System Manifold Development , 2012 .

[65]  Zhonghao Rao,et al.  Experimental investigation on thermal management of electric vehicle battery with heat pipe , 2013 .

[66]  Hilmi Kuscu,et al.  Heat transfer of brake pad used in the autos after friction and examination of thermal tension analysis , 2014 .

[67]  T. P. Cotter,et al.  Structures of Very High Thermal Conductance , 1964 .

[68]  Bernard Desmet,et al.  Experimental investigation on the feasibility of heat pipe cooling for HEV/EV lithium-ion battery , 2014 .

[69]  Stacy E. Howington,et al.  Examining the sensitivity of simulated surface temperatures due to meteorological conditions , 2012, Other Conferences.

[70]  Wenjian Cai,et al.  Auto-tuning of cascade control systems. , 2003, ISA transactions.

[71]  Savithry K. Thangaraju,et al.  Heat transfer enhancement on ventilated brake disk with blade inclination angle variation , 2013 .

[72]  Alaa Attar,et al.  Designing and testing the optimum design of automotive air-to-air thermoelectric air conditioner (TEAC) system , 2016 .

[73]  In Lee,et al.  Finite element analysis of transient thermoelastic behaviors in disk brakes , 2004 .

[74]  Paul Danca,et al.  An Overview of Current Methods for Thermal Comfort Assessment in Vehicle Cabin , 2016 .

[75]  J. Rugh,et al.  Vehicle Ancillary Load Reduction Project Close-Out Report: An Overview of the Task and a Compilation of the Research Results , 2008 .

[76]  Giuseppe Gigli,et al.  Photovoltachromic device with a micropatterned bifunctional counter electrode. , 2014, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[77]  Ning Kang,et al.  An investigation of the influence of the wheel spoke type on the convective cooling of the brake disc using the computational fluid dynamics method , 2013 .

[78]  Rahman Saidur,et al.  PERFROMANCE OF AN IMPROVED SOLAR CAR VENTILATOR , 2009 .

[79]  Bock Cheol Lee,et al.  Vehicle Cabin Air Quality with Fractional Air Recirculation , 2013 .

[80]  M.K Yoong,et al.  Studies of regenerative braking in electric vehicle , 2010, 2010 IEEE Conference on Sustainable Utilization and Development in Engineering and Technology.

[81]  Akira Hirano,et al.  Evaluation on the Solar Reduction Glass in an Electric Vehicle by Experimental Measurements in a Climate Chamber , 2014 .

[82]  Ed Bendell.  Investigation of a Coupled CFD and Thermal Modelling Methodology for Prediction of Vehicle Underbody Temperatures , 2005 .

[83]  Y. Fuh,et al.  Highly stretchable thermal interface materials with uniformly dispersed network of exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets via ball milled processing route , 2018 .

[84]  Zhengguo Zhang,et al.  Experimental and numerical investigation of the application of phase change materials in a simulative power batteries thermal management system , 2014 .

[85]  K. Jha,et al.  A Simple Model for Calculating Vehicle Thermal Loads , 2013 .