Air centre structure of automotive heat exchangers in view of its post-buckling behaviour

Louvred air centres (fins) are thin-walled structures made of wrought aluminium alloy with a ratio between a minimum dimension and a thickness of 65 at least. The air centres are the critical components of automotive heat exchangers, taking into account heat transfer requirements and air pressure drop. In other words, their main goal is to provide a sufficient surface needed to transfer heat with a minimum pressure drop of an airside. Also, they create necessary structural support for heat exchanger tubes and thanks to them; the heat exchanger cores have a required structural resistance.