Heat transfer enhancement of nanofluids in rotary blade coupling of four-wheel-drive vehicles

SummaryThis study adds CuO and Al2O3 nano particles and antifoam respectively into cooling engine oil. A comparison is made between their heat transfer performance and that of oil without adding such substances. The experimental platform is a real-time four-wheel-drive (4WD) transmisson system. It adopts advanced rotary blade coupling (RBC), where a high local temperature occurs easily at high rotating speed. Therefore, it is imperative to improve the heat transfer efficiency. Any resolution to such problems requires a thorough understanding of the thermal behavior of the rotating flow field within the power transmission system. The experiment measures the temperature distribution of RBC exterior at four different rotating speeds (400rpm, 800rpm, 1200rpm and 1600rpm), simulating the conditions of a real car at different rotating speeds and investigating the optimum possible compositions of a nanofluid for higher heat transfer performance.