Cooling Systems

Today’s lecture consisted of us writing about cooling systems on the Ginetta G55. The main focus of the lecture was the engine cooling system, this system is made up of simple parts that simply transport coolant from the radiator through the engine and back to the radiator.

The radiator is the component in the system that does the cooling as it is made up of two end tanks that hold the coolant and then the coolant flows through a tube inside the radiator. This tube in the radiator had lots of aluminum fins attached and the heat from the coolant is conducted through the aluminum and the act of air flowing over the radiator cools the fins and thus cools the coolant in radiator. In the image below you can see the top of the radiator and the mountings for it, also the top hose (the blue silicone hose connecting to the aluminum pipe) this is where the just cooled coolant exits the radiator.

The coolant then flows through a hose and into an aluminum pipe and another hose into the housing on the rear of the engine. The use of silicone hoses and aluminum pipes is necessary because if we had a full length silicone hose then it would bend under the weight and heat of the coolant, if we had a full aluminum hose we couldn't fit it as it wouldn’t bend tight enough for the angles required for the cooling system, also if we have silicone on either end of the aluminum pipe then this allows for some movement when the car is under vibrations and we can have some flex for if we need to move the pipe slightly but don’t want to have to disconnect it and have to drain and refill the system.

On the Ginetta we have a fan positioned behind the radiator, this is there simply so when the car is parked with the engine running the radiator still has air flowing through it to cool the engine, otherwise overheating would become a problem for example on the grid for a race or in a pit stop. The picture below is of the back of the radiator with the fan attached to the back that pulls air through the radiator fins.