Fluidic Nozzles for Automotive Washer Systems: Computational Fluid Dynamics and Experimental Analysis
Authors:   ,   Swansea University, Sheady Zara 
Published: March 2023

One of the main goals of this project was to cultivate an understanding of fluidic nozzle geometries and characteristic flow. Through this knowledge, three new fluidic nozzle concepts were developed to be used as components in several windscreen washer systems for an automotive part supplier, Kautex Textron CVS Ltd.Accurate and conclusive visualisation of flow through fluidic nozzles was vital in understanding how they can be best utilised for different applications. Over the past century, the specific needs of automotive cleaning systems have greatly developed with new technological discoveries, these advances allow the driver further knowledge of their surroundings. These specialised systems each require a different type of maintenance and cleaning system depending on their usage and the different size and shape of the vehicle. By completing this project, it is hoped to allow manufacturers to accurately identify what sort of fluidic nozzles are best for windscreen cleaning systems for a vehicle and how to design a nozzle to suit their specification. Fluidic nozzles have been researched experimentally and computationally to ensure an accurate comparison of results. By guaranteeing a precise comparison it will negate the need for high volume testing of nozzles in experimental situations, greatly reducing time and resources required to analyse a fluidic nozzle.The fluidic nozzles that are investigated and developed in this project were modelled and examined both experimentally and computationally, this ensured valid and accurate results were achieved by both the computational modelling and experimental testing. The development of the nozzles within this project was conducted using several experimental and computational setups to analyse the spray distribution, angle and oscillatory frequency amongst other parameters significant to the nozzle usage on a vehicle. Through this it was possible to tailor nozzle dimensions to allow for a streamlined design approach, this increased efficiency in fluidic nozzle development for any specification given by a vehicle manufacturing company customer. In addition to this the water flow emitted from the outlet was experimentally tested and modelled with both stationary and high surrounding velocities to examine how external variables affect the flow of the water from the nozzle.iiiThis project has been useful in the design manufacturing process of fluidic nozzles, by utilising computational modelling it has allowed a faster and cheaper method of analysing the effect of design alterations to fluidic nozzles. There is a greatly reduced frequency required for rapid prototyping of an array of fluidic chips with minimal dimensional differences to be used in the experimental stages of design, as once the inlet boundary conditions are established the nozzle can be redesigned completely within reason without the need for additional material wastage. This ensures a more easy and precise method of testing the manufacturing tolerances of a fluidic nozzle with a target of reaching customer specifications are always achieved.Three nozzles were aimed developed to satisfy conditions set by the customers, the vehicle manufacturers at which the new nozzle designs are aimed at are Honda, Nissan and Toyota. The nozzles to be established were designed for use on windscreen washer systems with a varying number of nozzles and with diverse windscreen sizes for different vehicles, resulting in a wide variety of specifications that must be met for each vehicle manufacturer. This meant that a single nozzle could not be utilised for all vehicles, instead a base model of fluidic chip was developed for the Nissan vehicle which was then dimensionally changed to suit the other vehicles.Throughout this project there were design specifications changes and ambiguities from the automotive company customers, leading to redesigns of the fluidic chips designed in this project. This means that although only two of the three fluidic nozzle designs are successfully in production, a much greater understanding of the mechanics of the fluid flow within the fluidic nozzle was achieved.