Effects of Cladding and Antifreeze Solution on Cavitation Corrosion of AA3003 Tube of Heat Exchanger for Automobile

A heat exchanger is a device designed to transfer heat between two or more fluids. In a vehicle's thermal management system, Al heat exchangers play a critical role in controlling and managing heat for efficient and safe operation of the engine and other components. The fluid used to prevent heat exchangers from overheating the engine is mostly tap water. Heat exchange performance can be maintained at sub-zero temperatures using a solution mixed with antifreeze. Although the fluid flowing through the heat exchanger can reduce the temperature inside the engine, it also has various problems such as cavitation corrosion. Cavitation corrosion characteristics in tap water and corrosion characteristics were evaluated in this study when antifreeze was added for test specimens where AA4045 was cladded on the inner surface of AA3003 tubes of a fin-type heat exchanger. The cavitation corrosion resistance of AA3003 was found to be superior to that of AA4045 regardless of the test solution due to higher corrosion resistance and hardness of AA3003 than those of AA4045. The cavitation corrosion rate of Al alloys increased with the addition of antifreeze.