COOLING ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD WITH SELECTED SURFACES CONFIGURED TO INHIBIT CHANGES IN BOILING STATE

摘要

Heat transfer in coolant circuits, as in an internal combustion engine for example, can be beneficially enhanced by maintaining the coolant in a nucleate boiling state, but undesirable transitions to a film boiling state are then possible. The disclosed coolant circuit has selected surface(s) that have a tendency to experience high heat flux in comparison to adjacent surfaces in the coolant circuit. These surfaces (12) are provided with a surface configuration, such as a matrix (14) of nucleation cavities (16), which has a tendency to inhibit a change in boiling state. The surface configuration can be provided on the parent coolant circuit surface (12) or on a surface (12) of an insert (10) positioned in the coolant circuit. Thus, transitions to film boiling can be effectively avoided at locations in the coolant circuit that are susceptible to such transitions.