A Measurement Method to Correlate CFD Prediction of Air Flow Velocities across Cooling Pack for Farm Tractor

An agricultural tractor comprises a tightly packed underhood compartment, which poses distinct challenges in managing airflow through its heat exchangers. The intricate design results in uneven airflow patterns, as the fan-driven system draws air from the front, top, and side openings. This work presents a methodology to measure the cooling airflow volume in the tractor and establishing a correlation between test airflow and CFD simulated airflow values. A handheld anemometer and 3x3 matrix type anemometer used for airflow measurement. Measurements were taken at front and back of heat exchanger. It was concluded that, measuring airflow through the heat exchanger with a matrix-type anemometer positioned behind it can enhance the correlation with CFD results to 84%.