Wetting prediction of power train components under the influence moving components using smooth particle hydrodynamics

Passenger cars are subjected to extensive conditions ranging from driving through wet roads, water puddles, icy roads, and rain. This can affect the performance of different parts over time, one such aspect is the vehicle corrosion, whose impact is felt on a wide spectrum from aesthetics to safety due to loss of material. The general condition for corrosion mainly requires electrolyte to be present on the metal surface, which is transported through self-soiling and foreign soiling. Vehicle soiling is an important aspect for vehicle design. Amongst the many aspects of vehicle soiling, one important aspect is the prediction of water accumulation that enables prediction of corrosion sensitive regions in the vehicle. Power train components like Engine, transmission and corresponding wiring harness are at highest risk of water-wetting, As the vehicle drives through the water pool the components are not just wet by the direct inflow of water but also by water being splashed by moving components like belt and pulley mechanism and fan which is part of radiator system. So far, the current numerical methods address soiling without considering moving parts in power train, however there is a need to understand the impact of moving components to accurately to better understand the high corrosion probable areas. This paper describes the process to include moving components and its impact on wetting of critical power train components. The presented work involves coupling of Blender® to model belt and pulley mechanism with SPH software PreonLab. A comparison between effects of with and without the moving parts is presented. The results show 80% deviation for Engine Wetting time inferring that to predict the hotspots in powertrain components it is important to accurately model the moving components.