DENSO Corp.
has developed a new and more efficient radiator that the company says is 40
percent smaller and lighter, compared to DENSO's previous radiators. Also, the
radiator’s tank is made with a plant-derived resin making it more
environmentally friendly than conventional radiators.
“The
radiator’s reduced size translates into greater design flexibility for
installation in the engine compartment. This also helps make the vehicle safer
in the event of a frontal collision because the reduced size allows for a
larger impact or crash zone,” said Akio Shikamura, senior executive director of
DENSO's Thermal Systems Business Group. “In addition, the radiator’s tank is
made of a plant-derived resin, which DENSO has been mass producing since 2009,
making the radiator greener and environmentally cleaner than traditional
radiators.”
With higher
heat radiation efficiency, the new radiator is only 16mm wide, but equal in
performance to the conventional 27mm wide radiators, resulting in a substantial
size and weight reduction, the company says. A radiator’s performance depends
on its two major components — fins and tubes. The radiator’s more efficient
heat radiation is achieved through improvements in the design of the fins.
DENSO increased the amount of louvers, which are located on the surface of the
fin, to 30 percent per unit area. This design change allowed the radiator to
have 10 percent more efficient heat radiation than DENSO’s conventional
radiators.
DENSO, along
with a materials manufacturer, has jointly developed thinner and
higher-strength materials that are used to make the fins and tubes. This new
material allows for a global procurement of materials, which helps DENSO be
cost-effective in all regions around the world. The fin, using DENSO’s
manufacturing expertise, is the world’s thinnest of its kind, according to the
company. DENSO says the radiator offers the same strength as its previous
radiators while using thinner materials. All these advantages enabled the
radiator to be 40 percent smaller and lighter than the previous models.
The newly
developed 16mm wide radiator is installed in the Lexus GS. In addition to the
16mm wide radiator, DENSO will also commercialize a 27mm wide type, which is
thinner than the conventional model of 36mm type, and 11.5mm wide type, which
are thinner than the conventional model of 16mm, to offer a wider range of the
new radiator series for a greater range of vehicle models.
DENSO says it
will continue its research and development to expand its new radiator series
into more environment-friendly and safer products to meet the increasingly
diverse vehicle needs worldwide.
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