The investigation of the effects of inlet geometry, air velocity and temperature on the de-icing analysis of automobile windshield by using computational fluid dynamics

In this study, the three-dimensional numerical analysis of the defrosting time based on the speed and temperature distribution of the air exiting the air conditioning element in order to remove the ice formed on the windshield in the automobile cabin was performed using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (HAD) method. First analyzes were carried out on the basis of some studies in the literature on simple models in the literature. New model was designed by taking measurements from the mathematical model of the automobile cabin model used in the experimental data obtained for the real car cabin. In the model, as a result of the numerical analysis of the standard heating process of the air conditioning elements in continuous and transient regime, air flow, temperature distributions in the windshield area and the ice layer are obtained. The boundary and initial conditions were chosen to be identical to the experimental data to provide proper verification. The numerical analyzes performed using CFD method were carried out in two stages in continuous and transient regime, momentum equations were solved in continuous regime and fluid motion was examined, and in transient regime, the percentage of time-dependent defrosting in the windshield region was analyzed by dissolving energy equation. Validation is provided by comparing the results with experimental data. As a result of the analysis, it was understood that the windshield defrosting time, which is vital for driving safety due to bad visibility conditions, especially in cold climatic zones, can be solved with numerical analysis and optimization can be achieved. Key words: CFD, Heat Transfer, Deicing/Defrosting, Climate Control