Radiator Design and Material Recommendations Based on Failure Mode Analysis

Specific recommendations, based on a referenced failure mode study, are made for corrective actions in materials and design to reduce long term failure rates in passenger car and light truck applications of brazed aluminum radiators, mechanically bonded aluminum radiators, and copper radiators with plastic tanks. Suggestions are made for improving the correlation of short term laboratory tests with in service failure modes and relative failure rates. Conclusions are drawn as to estimated ten year failure rates based on adoption of the suggested corrective actions. Brazed aluminum radiators emerge as the most cost effective long life configuration, and perhaps as the only configuration that will meet the author's definition of a ten year radiator.