Mailing List lml@lancaironline.net Message #26012
From: Marvin Kaye <marv@lancaironline.net>
Subject: Re: Ada Cooling - Grayhawk's Pictures - More details
Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2004 13:04:07 -0400
To: <lml>
Posted for "Mike Hutchins" <mhutchins@attglobal.net>:

 Thanks Scott for posting the pictures.
  
 Here are some additional comments related to Scott’s pictures in the order
 they occurred. All cylinders are referenced bases on the TCM cylinder
 ordering, i.e. pilot side front to back = 6-4-2 and copilot side front to
 back = 5-3-1. All of the comments apply only to the cylinder head; it is not
 necessary to provide additional cooling to the barrel.
 
  Photo 1. Polar plot of CHT taken at several positions on the head. The BLUE
 trace is cylinder #6. For all of the traces, the exhaust port corresponds to
 the 8:30 position and the intake port is at the 4:30 position. Note that the
 exhaust port area is the hottest area for all of the heads, except #6. Also
 note that the top of #6, at the 10:30 position is substantially cooler than
 the rest of the cylinders. This is related to the blast effect of air as it
 enters the cowling with baffles that leave most of the head exposed to the
 incoming air.
 
  Photo 2. Important details – the baffle has walls on both sides of the fins
 to sandwich the fins in between to prevent the escape of cooling air out the
 sides. The small step-off in the bottom portion of the baffle provides
 adequate exit area for the cooling air. This step-off is necessary to
 prevent choking off the air flow, thus reducing the cooling obtained. George
 told me that the pushrod tube can substantially block the air flow;
 therefore the step-off is a necessary detail. Alternatively, you can forego
 the step-off and leave the medial half of the cooling fins exposed
 (corresponding to the medial most bend in the baffle shown) with nearly the
 same cooling efficiency.
  
 Photo 3. The “curved wing” Scott refers to would be mounted on the shelf
 just above the oil cooler and would extend forward of the slanted surface of
 the oil cooler so it can “catch” some of the upward deflected air stream.
 The “curved wing” would extend rearward to the cylinder head cooling fins
 and would curve downward to deflect the air down the forward face of the
 cylinder head cooling fins. Recall the polar plot of cylinder #6 and
 consider this mod only if #6 is running hot and/or the front baffle covers
 most of the forward facing fins of #6.
  
 Photo 4. Essentially, George created a separate air compartment under the
 cowl just for the intercooler air.
  
 Photos 3 & 4. Think about radiant heat from the exhaust system. It can be a
 more significant contributor to cylinder head heating than you realize. The
 exhaust system is running red-orange hot during cruise conditions and can
 radiate A LOT of heat into the head. George told us that IR radiation
 increases with the 4th power of temperature (my guess is on the Kelvin
 scale). To block the IR heat path into the head, fabricate a small heat
 shield for each of the exhaust runners under the head. The heat shield can
 be mounted to the exhaust pipe with hose clamps and should allow a small ¼”
 – ½” airspace between the exhaust pipe and the heat shield. If the heat
 shield spans a slip joint, make sure there is adequate flexibility in the
 stand off legs to allow movement of the slip joint. The portion of the
 exhaust pipe stub or down-tube exiting the exhaust port can also radiate a
 lot of heat into the flat surfaces of the fins just behind the exhaust
 stack. This area can also benefit from a heat shield. The insulating wraps
 for exhaust systems were NOT recommended for this application because of the
 very high temperatures involved. The stainless steel beneath the insulating
 wrap can readily reach its phase-transition temperature and disintegrate.
 Now you are really having a bad day!
 
  Photo 5. The “baffle work” Grayhawk mentions is a bypass channel that gets
 the air around the flat spot and down to the lower cooling fins on the
 intake side of the head. I think it was Carl Cadwell that recently posted an
 elegant fix to this problem for the #2 cylinder. This is also the reason why
 you DO NOT want to place any material between the heads in this area.
  
 Photo #6. Make sure the hole is wide enough to get air past the full width
 of the flat spot in your cylinder head. There seems to be a fair amount of
 variability in the dimensions of this flat spot from engine-to-engine so you
 should not rely on dimensions from another installation. Similarly, be sure
 to extend the opening down far enough to expose enough fin area for adequate
 airflow through the hole and into the fins. Lastly, the “roof” or “awning”
 referred to in association with this opening in the baffle is suggested to
 redirect the airflow. The airflow in the area of this forward facing baffle
 is from bottom-to-top as the incoming air is redirected from its
 front-to-back direction into a bottom-to-top direction before it once again
 resumes its forward-to-back path. The “roof” is therefore placed above the
 hole and extends forward, perpendicular to the baffle and parallel to the
 horizon. The purpose is to create a high pressure area under the “roof” that
 will encourage air to flow through the hole and thus through the exhaust
 port-side cooling fins under the head.
  
 Thanks again Scott for providing some of the more critical pictures from the
 seminar.
  
 I hope this helps some of you who were unable to attend. The “Devil is in
 the Details” was an often quoted remark, as was the impact of that red-hot
 exhaust system just inches away from the bottom of the heads.
  
 Best Regards,
 
 Mike
 
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