Transient CFD Simulation of Exhaust Gas Recirculation Coolers for Further Structural Analyses

Exhaust Gas Recirculation coolers (EGR) have to withstand high thermal stresses due to large temperature gradients between the hot exhaust gas and the coolant. For the conceptual design of non-existing models in the early development phases, a simulation method was developed for the virtual validation of temperature cycle testing. In this work, a conjugate heat transfer analysis of a shell and tube type EGR cooler is carried out using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the resulting structural temperatures are subsequently mapped to a Finite Element (FE) model for further structural analysis. This allows a complete and accurate thermal and structural analysis of component designs. The methodology has been developed and validated for temperature cycle loading tests. Experimental and simulation results are in good agreement, thereby allowing the successful virtual design and optimization of EGR coolers.