Numerical investigation on thermal–hydraulic performance of an intercooler with bionic channel textures

Abstract

Intercoolers are widely employed in automotive applications, especially in turbocharged engines, to enhance engine power output by cooling the intake air, which improves combustion efficiency and reduces the risk of engine knock. This paper investigates three innovative bionic textures in channels to enhance the heat transfer characteristics of intercoolers. The thermal–hydraulic performance of the intercooler is optimized by analyzing the geometric parameters of the bionic texture structures. The investigated geometric parameters of this study are the height (h_c) and radius ratio (r) of the bionic crab surface texture, the groove length (s) and groove height (h_s) of the bionic shark-skin texture as well as fish scale opening angle (α) and the inclination angle (β) of the bionic fish scale texture. The application of bionic textures in channels leads to a maximum increment of 14.95% in the heat transfer performance for the intercooler. This paper compares the thermal–hydraulic performance of the three bionic channel textures. Among the three bionic textures, the bionic crab shell texture demonstrates the optimal comprehensive performance, improving the JF factor by up to 15.02%. The increment in the JF factor achieved by the bionic crab shell texture is 175.95% and 42.35% higher than the maximum increments achieved by the bionic fish scale and bionic shark-skin textures, respectively. The application of nature-inspired designs to thermal systems offers a new pathway to enhance heat transfer in intercoolers. The results provide theoretical guidance for designing high-performance intercoolers with excellent thermal–hydraulic performance. By bridging bio-inspired design with heat exchangers, this study provides innovative solutions for more efficient cooling systems in automotive and industrial applications.