Fuel Tank Heat Shield Design

The placement and design of heat shields is a critical step in the design of todays vehicles. Computer modeling of heat shield configurations can help to optimize shielding performance while minimizing their size and cost. In this paper an attempt was made to determine the most effective shielding arrangement between the exhaust system and the fuel tank. It has been determined through numerical experimentation that vehicles equipped with plastic fuel tanks should have tank shields installed as a first preference over exhaust shielding in most practical applications.