Design optimization and performance evaluation of an air-cooled heat exchanger for electric vehicle power electronics cooling

초록

Driven by global efforts to limit carbon emissions, electric vehicles are emerging as a promising alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles. As power electronics is a key component of electric vehicles, thermal management of power electronics and associated air-cooled heat exchangers are becoming more essential. While many previous studies have addressed air-cooled heat exchangers and their design optimization, specific operating conditions of electric vehicles with low temperature difference have rarely been considered. Furthermore, frontal area of the heat exchanger in relation to spatial constraints and aerodynamic drag has been overlooked. To address this research gap, multi-objective design optimization of air-cooled heat exchanger was performed to simultaneously minimize the air-side pressure and frontal area, while remaining equivalent heat transfer rate. A simulation model was developed using effectiveness-NTU method and validated with experimental data. The model was subsequently applied to a multi-objective genetic algorithm to derive an optimal design, which reduced the frontal area by 9.6% and the air-side pressure drop by 13.4%. The optimized heat exchanger exhibited stable coolant outlet temperature and reduced fan power consumption by up to 22.1% across various coolant flow rates and air velocities. Overall, this study contributed to efficient vehicle operation by reducing the occupied area and power consumption while maintaining sufficient thermal performance.

키워드