Mechanical Engineering
CVT Cooling system
As the leader of the Powertrain sub team on the UMD Terps Racing Baja SAE team, I managed multiple projects for my sub team and conducted my own experimental projects.
I started a design project to manage the temperature within the vehicles' CVT transmission. During the early summer competition season, the inside of the CVT can easily reach a critically high temperature for some components in the CVT. Cooling is necessary, however, the CVT performs better at higher temperatures. The cooling system that I designed is able to control the amount of air that enters the CVT in order to maintain an optimal temperature.
The system utilizes active air circulation. An impeller connected to the secondary (driven) spool pulls air in from the intake. The intake draws air though a filter higher on the vehicle, connected through a flexible tube. A valve controls airflow though the tube, based on the internal temperature of the CVT, measured by an IR array and processed on the vehicles main processing board. Air exits the CVT through an outlet with a second filter.
The impeller blades and connectors are 3D printed out of a carbon fiber nylon composite. This material is able to withstand the high temperatures inside the CVT without adding significant inertia to the CVT spool.
This project was implemented on the 2019 car, and testing and calibration continued into newer cars as an ongoing project. Fluid thermal simulations helped to drive design decisions in including rough blade size and housing shape, while further testing is used to calibrate the system. Multiple blade sizes can slot into the impeller core for testing and calibration to specific environments.