Design and development of a non-return valve for cooling systems of automotive applications

The aim of this stage activity and thesis work, done in collaboration with “RAICAM DRIVELINE srl”, is the design and development of a non-return valve for cooling systems of Automotive applications. This work follows a series of subsequent steps, starting from a preliminary research and benchmarking activity to characterize the technical specifications and characteristics of existing unidirectional valves. Afterwards these outcomes will be used for the proper valve design, including 3D modeling through Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, component development and sizing to respect all the imposed requirements and working conditions. A key step will be the material selection for the case study to ensure the feasibility of the assembly processes. This preliminary valve sizing will be checked through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation, mainly to analyze the pressure drops across it. Once the valve has been designed a first functional prototype will be manufactured and subsequently tested following a Concept Validation plan defined for this specific application. Finally, these experimental results will be used for the tuning of CFD valve model in order to get a reliable model for future development in other similar applications.