Design and manufacturing of cooling system for FSAE car

Abstract

Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Vehicles are being transitioned out of the automotive industry as well as motorsports in favour of Electric Vehicles (EV). One of the major issues with an electric powertrain is that it generates a lot of heat energy which can decrease the working efficiency and can also be hazardous. The objective is to design and manufacture an efficient “Cooling System” for an FSAE car for betterment in performance, efficiency of the vehicle and safety of the driver such that battery, motor controller, and motor’s temperature is maintained below 55 °C, 55 °C and 70 °C respectively by incorporating air and liquid cooling while keeping the weight below 10 kg.The components were designed and selected considering the manufacturing process, cost, weight, ease of serviceability and assembly. Analysis of the components was done according to the actual working conditions considering the steady-state of the components. The final product was then tested to check for any failures and reliability of the product.During testing, the peak temperatures were 38–45 °C, 55–65 °C, and 35–47 °C for motor controller, motor and battery respectively at 60% current limit from battery pack with the cooling system ON throughout the runs. Also, the temperature of motor, motor controller and battery on an average is recorded to be 56 °C, 45 °C, and 40 °C keeping the weight of the whole product below 8 kg.It was inferred that design of the cooling system is completely suitable for an FSAE specification vehicle and can be homologated for passenger vehicles as well. Hence, this design can be adopted by FS teams participating in FSAE competitions. Also, automotive manufacturing giants shifting towards electric mobility and new start-ups emerging in the field of electric vehicles can adopt this design to increase the range of vehicles and validate safety of the same.