Thermal Air Flow Analysis of an Automotive Headlamp - The PIV Measurement and the CFD Simulation by Using a Skeleton Model

Heat transfer evaluation and air flow field prediction are important for improving the heatproof capability, durability and ventilation performance of automotive headlamps. In the present study, heat transfer and air flow field in a headlamp model were investigated both experimentally and numerically. The Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was employed to measure the velocity field of the heat transfer loop in the headlamp at first. Then, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted by using the PIV measurement results as boundary conditions for the CFD simulation.