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, Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:02:03
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Thanks for going through all the trouble, you're a v6 oil cooler pioneer! As far as aluminum vs steel, I was curious about the thermal properties myself. I used a material science software package to analyze the thermal properties of different steels and alumina. Turns out, as long as the steel is low carbon, medium carbon, high carbon, or low alloy steel, they have BETTER thermal conductivity ratings than aluminum. Stainless steel however, has about 25% lower thermal conductivity than aluminum. I also analyzed the price vs thermal conductivity of the materials, and it turns out that all of the steels are over 2 times less expensive to process and manufacture than aluminum! No wonder the GM accountants stopped using the Saab oil cooler! Also, its no wonder its twice as expensive! However, looking at the service temperatures of the two materials, both would be acceptable in our relatively low temperature engines. Heat flux, the transfer of heat from a higher temperature surface to a lower temperature surface, is determined by the temperature difference multiplied by the thermal conductivity divided by the length of the material. In our case, heat flux is not that great due to the relatively small difference between the oil temperature and coolant temperature. (Hot coolant is around 100 C while hot oil is around 230 C) Therefore, in my opinion, I would say that it is safe to use the catera cooler if the Saab one is not available. In the end though, use whatever you feel comfortable with. Thats the most important thing of all!
Lawrence
posted by 67.161.190...
, Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:02:03
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