As the market for electric vehicles grows at a remarkable rate, various models of electric\nvehicles are currently in development, in parallel to the commercialization of components for diverse\ntypes of power supply. Cabin heating and heat management components are essential to electric\nvehicles. Any design for such components must consider the requirements for heating capacity\nand power density, which need to reflect both the power source and weight reduction demand\nof any electric vehicle. In particular, design developments in electric heaters have predominantly\nfocused on experimental values because of structural characteristics of the heater and the variability\nof heat sources, requiring considerable cost and duration. To meet the ever-changing demands of the\nmarket, an improved design process for more efficient models is essential. To improve the efficacy\nof the design process for electric heaters, this study conducted a Computational Fluid Dynamics\n(CFD) analysis of an electric heater with specific dimensions by changing design parameters and\noperating conditions of key components. The CFD analysis modeled heat characteristics through the\napplication of user-defined functions (UDFs) to reflect temperature properties of Positive Temperature\nCoefficient (PTC) elements, which heat an electric heater. Three analysis models, which included\nfin as well as PTC elements and applied different spaces between the heat rods, were compared\nin terms of heating performance. In addition, the heat performance and heat output density of\neach analysis model was analyzed according to the variation of air flow at the inlet of the radiation\nsection of an electric heater. Model B was selected, and a prototype was fabricated based on the\nmodel. The performance of the prototype was evaluated, and the correlation between the analysis\nresults and the experimental ones was identified. The error rate between performance change\nrates was approximately 4%, which indicated that the reliability between the design model and the\nprototype was attained. Consequently, the design range of effective performance and the guideline for\nlightweight design could be presented based on the simulation of electric heaters for various electric\nvehicles. The fabrication of prototypes and minimum comparison demonstrated opportunities to\nreduce both development cost and duration.
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