International Engineering Research Journal

Special Edition PGCON-MECH-2017

International Engineering Research Journal

Use of Electronic Viscous Drive to decrease Fan duty cycle
Dhiraj Ramdas, S.P.Pachpute

Department Of Mechanical Engineering, D Y Patil College Of Engineering, Akurdi, Savitribai Phule Pune University,Pune-411041.

Abstract

The Viscous Fan drive is part of the primary cooling module in commercial vehicle. Recently with many studies and
researches on mechanically actuated viscous fan drives has led for the cooling optimization. However, there is very
limited research on the electronically actuated viscous fan drive to achieve constant temperature of cooling. Standard
ROA test along with Vector Tool is used to understand the effect of electronically operated viscous fan drive. This
study demonstrates that with use of electronic Viscous Fan Drive the fan duty cycle changes with change in control of
coolant temperature. With Physical trail the most optimized control points are derived and analyzed for saving in fan
duty cycle.

Keywords: Fan Duty Cycle, Electronic Viscous Fan Drive.

1. Introduction fans are most common in trucks and suv, and some
rwd cars. This is easier to accomplish because the
A torque limited fan clutch/drive is based on the engine is mounted longitudinally, with the belt
principle of torque transmitter wherein the torque accessory components mounted facing the radiator.
from driver to the driven is transmitted with help of The fan is mounted on the crankshaft pulley or one of
viscous fluids. The two type of actuation currently the accessory pulleys (e.g. the water pump pulley) and
available are air temperature sensing and coolant will spin in between the radiator and the engine,
temperature sensing. In air temperature sensing fan drawing air back through the radiator and blowing it
drives (mechanical), a bimetallic plate in front of fan over the engine. Even though the air has been heated
drive senses the air temperature exiting the radiator by passing through the radiator, it is still much less hot
and opens a control port inside the fan clutch. In than the engine surface, so the airflow over the engine
coolant temperature sensing fan drive(electronic), the helps with cooling.
bi-metallic strip is replaced by either a solenoid
actuated valve. We are trying to find the benefit of 2. Working Principle
electronic fan drives in terms of fan energy
consumption, with help of a feedback sensor/logic The basic components of fan clutches are shown in
resulting in varying fan output speed as per the cooling below Fig.1 rotor fixed to the input shaft of the device,
required. sits inside the chamber within the housing, which
The ever tightening emission limits and constant rotates on bearings around the input shaft. The
pressure for increasing engine power are resulting in chamber is filled with silicone fluid/viscous fluid,
increased engine operating temperature. This coupled which transmits torque from the rotor to the housing,
with continuous drive for fuel economy improvement onto which the fan is bolted.
because of the stiff competition are forcing OEMs to In air temperature sensing fan drives, a bimetallic plate
explore alternative cooling solutions resulting in less in front of fan drive senses the air temperature exiting
power take off and quick response as cooling the radiator and opens a control port inside the fan
requirement shoots up. clutch. Fluid flows from the reservoir into the drive
The fan drives or fan clutches are present in market chamber thus increasing the fan speed.
since last few decades. Mechanically driven radiator The pictorial representation of the mechanical fan
cooling fan, generally located between radiator and drive is explained in Fig.2. The oil couples the housing
engine and is driven by a belt and pulley connected to and the primary disk and thus rotating the fan with
the engine's crankshaft. When the engine is cool or respect to input shaft speed.
even at normal operating temperature, the fan clutch In coolant temperature sensing fan drive, the bi-
partially disengages the fan drive from engine. This metallic strip is replaced by either a solenoid actuated
saves power, since the engine does not have to fully valve or a proportional valve.
drive the fan. However, if engine temperature rises
above the clutch's engagement temperature setting, the
fan becomes fully engaged, thus drawing a higher
volume of ambient air through the vehicle's radiator,
which in turn serves to maintain or lower the engine
coolant temperature to an acceptable level. Mechanical

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so as to increase the heat exchange in defined areas of

radiator, along with reduction in noise and run time.
Study based on comparison between electrically
operated fans and mechanical viscous fan clutch shows
the benefits on FE and fan power consumption of
electrically controlled system over mechanical ones.

Xu.Z, Johnson.J[2], based on computer aided cooling

system in automotive cites that a set of control
functions for computer controlled diesel cooling
system, using the vehicle engine cooling system code.
Engine operating conditions such as the engine load,
engine speed, and ambient temperature are considered
as the controlling variables in the control systems.
Comparison simulation tests between the conventional
cooling system and the computer controlled cooling
Fig.1Mechanically actuated fan – disengaged system on a defined commercial vehicle and cooling
system, using the vehicle-engine-cooling control
system model under different ambient and route
conditions show that the computer controlled cooling
system would offers increase of coolant, oil and engine
body temperature at low ambient temperature, and
with light load conditions helps in increasing engine
thermal efficiency. It helps in keeping higher oil
temperature at low ambient temperature. Thus during
cold start, engine inner parts temperature rises faster
resulting in reduced engine wear. The varying oil
temperature under variable load conditions reduces
the thermal stresses in the engine wall. Faster fan
engagement at higher ambient temperature and
heavier load conditions reduces energy consumed by
the fan. The validation of these simulation results with
a computer controlled engine cooling system is
discussed in detailed in their published papers by
researchers.
Fig.2 Mechanically actuated fan – engaged
Lee.K, Lee.J[3] and others discusses on viscous fan
3. Problem Statement clutch with continuous variable speed function for
engine cooling system resulting in reduced cooling fan
It air sensing fan drives could not fully control the fan noise and improving the overall fuel efficiency of the
speed in proportional behavior according to engine engine. It is a known fact that operation of the engine
operating temperature. This results in excess fan cooling fan is one of the major sources for noise and
power consumption and inconsistent rate of heat vibration and power consumption in engine. With help
transfer from coolant. To answer to this problem, of a continuous speed control fan drive clutch
Electronic actuators are required in fan drive systems, providing the required cooling air flow rate
which can sense the coolant temperature directly and proportional to engine cooling load, it can result into
control the Fan speed. decreased fan driving horsepower along with
improvement in fan noise and vibration. The study
4. Literature Review published shows viscous fluid fan clutch, for small and
medium diesel engines (less than 3.5 ton class), having
de Souza Filho[1], describes that the embedded a linear variable speed control function corresponding
electronic has been used to add intelligence to a purely to cooling load and low temperature hysteresis has
mechanical systems to aide reduction of fuel been developed. The results obtained tell that the
consumption which is one of the major concerns of proposed viscous fluid fan clutch can decrease the
automotive engineering. Few factors affecting FE engine fan operational noise and vibration as well as
identified are type of engine used, quality of fuel, the cooling fan driving horsepower significantly.
vehicle load, gear shifting, driver’s usage of vehicle and
the cooling system technology available. The current Blair.E[4] reiterate the desire for regulation of noise
definition of fan in cooling system utilizes portion of levels and power saving thus proposing to make fan
engine power to run, thus, influencing the fuel drive mandatory for heavy truck applications. Their
consumption and contributing to NVH level of vehicle, paper evaluates the reduction of power drain and fan
which is critical to passengers’ comfort. Another noise for two types of fan drives generally available
alternative suggested is the use of electric fans that can today: the on-off air-activated clutch and the
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modulated viscous drive. In addition, the principles of

operation, life, and application considerations are
discussed in depth in their paper.

Gangwar.H, Sharma.A, Pathak, S, Dwivedi, V[5] have

analyzed the relative benefits of incorporating a new
cooling fan drive system concept over conventional
viscous fan driven cooling system with step-less
variable speed control independent of engine speed
variation. The hydraulic fan drive system controls fan
rpm based on the fluid temperature as compared to air Fig.3 Experimental Setup – Electronic Fan Drive
temperature in conventional viscous coupling fan drive
system. HFD system results in prompt response when
increase in coolant temperature is observed. HFD
system provides more control on fan rpm. In this paper
we are discussing about optimization of HFD system to
achieve enhanced cooling system performance and also
to increase fuel economy comparison

Kanefsky.P, Nelson.V, and Ranger.M[6]discusses the

designing of engine cooling system based on
fundamentals of system engineering from a systems
engineering perspective. The researchers explain how
the task of designing a complex system can be made
easier by the application of systems engineering
principles. Systems engineering provides three key
benefits: It facilitates batter communication.
Requirements define the problem thus allowing team
members to see their own work in context. Key Fig.4 Experimental Setup – Control Logic
information is standardized and made easier to
visualize and verify. An auditing is performed to ensure 5.1 Governing Equations
that important information is documented for making
important decisions. They translate requirements into 1. Shaft Power = Power Consumption of the fan
design. All requirements are specified in common
terms and are consistent and linked from the customer blade
to the vehicle all the way down to components. Also, i. 𝑃 = 𝑀 × w
the manufacturing and service issues are addressed
up-front in the design process. ii. 𝑃 = 𝑀 × 2 × 𝜋 × /60
2. Aerodynamical power, 𝑃 = 𝑉 × D𝑃 𝑎
5. Objective
3. Power , 𝑃 /𝑃 = (n23/n13)
To decrease the fan duty cycle in viscous fan drives by i.e, 𝑃 𝑤𝑒 ∝ 𝐹𝑎 𝑅𝑃𝑀
use of electronic actuators (Solenoid).
To integrate this program in ECU of cooling system so
as to ensure required cooling of power train. The values for fan power and mass flow rate are mainly
The methodology to achieve this objective is to replace derived from the fan curves plotted for various Fan
the bimetal with solenoid coil as shown in Fig.3 which RPMs in line with the defined cooling System.
is operated by the ECU. The ECU checks the current A specific torque limit electronic viscous fan drive with
coolant temperature and the current fan speed which it fan of a specified diameter is primarily selected for the
receives from fan speed sensor in built in the fan drive defined engine cooling system. The fan drive is selected
itself. These values are then compared with the logic based on the maximum fan torque generated at the
chart value and the correction value is then sent by the max input shaft speed of the clutch. It should be duly
ECU in terms of voltage modulation to the solenoid noted that the fan drive should withstand the positive
valve. The solenoid valve then regulates the quantity of slip heat criteria resulted by the fan torque created.
the viscous fluid to be present inside the working The inputs to the system as shown in the control logic
chamber for the desired fan speed. The corrected value are the coolant temperature measured by coolant
is again cross-verified by the ECU by the feedback loop sensor, engine rpm and fan rpm measured by hall
as shown in Fig.4 and again the cycle repeat still the effect sensor. The ECU of the vehicle reads the current
coolant temperature stabilizes. measured temperature of c oolant and the engine and
fan rpm. With increase in the loading condition of
engine the engine rpm increases and the coolant
temperature begins to rise. The increase in engine rpm
invariably will accelerate the vehicle and there will be

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increase in ram air through the front grill. The radiator  The data for fan duty cycle depict that the fan
thus exchanges heat with ambient at a faster rate. running is limited only during high cooling
Thus, the scenario demands less Fan speed and the demand from the system. This reduces the fan
control logic sends bear minimum signals to the power consumed by the power train
electronic viscous fan drive solenoid thus resulting in
lower fan rpm. This saves he mechanical energy which
Coolant Temperature Comparison
otherwise would have spent. The logic takes a feedback 30%
28% 28%
Bi-metal E Visco
signal and re-computes the fan speed required to fan 25%
23%

speed actual and sends PWM signals to the solenoid of 20% 17%
16%
the fan. 15% 13% 13%
12% 12%
The fan selected is determined through characteristic 9%

Duty Cycle %
10%
curves of its properties shown in Fig.5 at different 6% 6%
6%
3%
running speed. 5%
0%0% 0%
1% 1%1%
1%
3%
0%0% 0%0%
0%
70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94

DPstat Coolant Temperature 0 C

700 0,06 0,07 0,08 0,09 0,10

Fig.6 Coolant temperature comparison

2500 0,

600
0,
Comparison of Fan RPM duty cycle
0,
500 2000
70%
0,
61%
60% Bi-metal E Visco

400 50%

1500
40% 35%

300
30%
Duty Cycle %
24%
20%
20% 15%
1000
9%
200 6% 7%
10% 4%
1%1% 3% 2%3% 2%2% 2% 1% 1%0% 0%0%
0% 0%
0%
400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600
100 Fan RPM -->
500

Fig.7 Fan Duty Cycle

0
0,0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3

m (kg/sec) [ Density = 1.1 kg/m3] Fan Energy Consumption

M1310/02 dp stat
M1310/02 dp stat
Fig.5 Fan Curves
umger. 1,05 Kg/m3 1500 1/min 390/153/9 s=2,0 auf
umger. 1,05 Kg/m3 2000 1/min 390/153/9 s=2,0 auf
Pendelmaschine gemessen,Manteld 368mm Manteltiefe 20mm,mit Attrappe (D507mm)
6000
Pendelmaschine gemessen,Manteld 368mm Manteltiefe 20mm,mit Attrappe (D507mm)
39mm von Lüfterhinterkante
39mm von Lüfterhinterkante
M1310/02 dp stat umger. 1,05 Kg/m3 2500 1/min 390/153/9 s=2,0 auf Pendelmaschine gemessen,Manteld 368mm Manteltiefe 20mm,mit Attrappe (D507mm) 39mm von Lüfterhinterkante
M1310/02 dp stat umger. 1,05 Kg/m3 3000 1/min 390/153/9 s=2,0 auf Pendelmaschine gemessen,Manteld 368mm Manteltiefe 20mm,mit Attrappe (D507mm) 39mm von Lüfterhinterkante
M1310/02 dp stat umger. 1,05 Kg/m3 3500 1/min 390/153/9 s=2,0 auf Pendelmaschine gemessen,Manteld 368mm Manteltiefe 20mm,mit Attrappe (D507mm) 39mm von Lüfterhinterkante 4829 kJ
5000

6. Results 4000 Energy Consumption

decreases by 86% wrt
to Bi Metal Clutch
 On evaluating the behavior of the fan with respect to 3000
Energy Consumption (kJ)

input signals, coolant temperature and drive speed it is 2000

duly noted that there is a drastic reduction in rpm of 700 kJ

the fan with electronic viscous drive as compared to 1000

mechanical/bimetallic viscous drive. As shown in the 0

Fig.7 the fan runs at lower rpm for most of the time and Energy Consumed By E Visco Energy Consumed By Bi Metal

thus results in lesser consumption of fan energy.

 It is observed that the on doing back to back
Fig.8 Fan Energy Consumption
performance comparative study between mechanical
viscous fan and electronic viscous fan, we see that in
Fig.6 the coolant temperature is maintained between
7. Conclusions
86-920C in electronic viscous fan drive whereas in case
of mechanical fan drive its 76-820C
The data shows the benefit of using the electronic
 The fan runs in the rpm band of less than 1000 for
viscous fan drive over mechanical/bimetal ones as it
more than 80% with electronic fan drive while in case
helps optimizing the fan speed. The resulting frugal
of mechanical fan it runs between 1400-2000 rpm for
running of fan so as to maintain the cooling load results
more than 50% of time as described in Fig.7.
in saving of fan power consumed. The fan runs only
 The time duration i.e. duty cycle of coolant running
when there is demand from the ECU of the vehicle, i.e.,
in temperature higher than 860C is about 60% in
when there is raise in coolant temperature. Based on
case of electronic while it is about 18% in
these control points the fan drive is programmed to
mechanical.
increase the fan rpm proportional to the rise in coolant
 Thus the energy consumed by fan for the entire
temperature.
run is computed as shown in Fig.8 and it is seen
The control range defined should be the specified
that there is 86% of reduction in fan power
optimum range by the power train, and provision for
consumed with electronic fan drive with respect to
immediate cooling during critical running conditions
mechanical fan drive.
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should be incorporated. Electronic viscous fan drive

helps in maintaining the coolant temperature at
desirable range as prescribed by the power train
requirement. The continuously varying fan rpm helps
maintain the coolant temperature and in return
maintains the power train optimum running
temperature. The configuration may be required to be
tuned as per the combination of the Power Train to
achieve maximum efficiency in fan power conservation.

8. References

1. de Souza Filho,de Oliveira Francisco, A.Paterlini,B.da

Silva,(2015) D. et al, Application Study of Electrical Fans
Assemble Applied in Bus Cooling System, SAE Technical
pp.36-42.
2. Xu.Z, Johnson.J, and Chiang.E(1984), A Simulation Study
of a Computer Controlled Cooling System for a Diesel
Powered Truck, SAE Technical pp.10-15.
3. Lee.K, Lee.J, and Koo.B,(1998),Development of a
Continuously Variable Speed Viscous Fan Clutch for
Engine Cooling System, SAE Technical pp.98-101.
4. Blair.E,(1974)Comparison of Modulated (Viscous) versus
On-Off Fan Clutches, SAE Technical ppr.74-85.
5. Gangwar.H, Sharma.A, Pathak.S, Dwivedi.V,(2016)
Performance Optimization of Electronically Controlled
Hydraulic Fan Drive (HFD) Used in Commercial
Application, SAE Technical pp.65-71.
6. Kanefsky.P, Nelson.V, and Ranger.M, (1999) A Systems
Engineering Approach to Engine Cooling Design, SAE
Technical pp.42-50.