PRINCIPLES OF LOUVER DESIGN

Figure A-1 in illustrates a typical louver geometry for a one-row core. This Appendix document
provides additional guidance on recommended practice for louver design and layout. The key
dimensions of the louvers are:

1. Louver Length (LL): Practical limits on this dimension are 80-85% of the fin height (Pt - tw).
2. Louver Pitch (Lp): The highest performance will occur by using a small value for Lp, and by
maximizing the number of louvers. Typical values for Lp are 0.040-0.060 in.
3. Louver Angle (θ): The best heat transfer and pressure drop performance seems to be
attained for louver angles between 25-30 degrees.
4. Redirection Length (LRD): Of particular concern is the redirection louver, which is
illustrated as LRD on Figure A-1. This dimension is discussed in the text below.

Figure A-1 Definition of Core Dimensions

Re-Direction Louver

The louvers attempt to turn the air flow at the louver angle (θ). The “re-direction louver” turns
the air flow back again at angle -2. If the re-direction louver were not used, the air passing
through the louvers would tend to be “jammed into” one header and “starved” at the opposite
header. This will cause an “end effect” that is detrimental to core performance. By using a “re-
direction louver” the end effect is minimized. It is a good idea to use at least one re-direction
louver per inch of core depth.

Whether the air flow direction will be close to the louver angle will depend on the louver pitch,
the fin pitch, and the air velocity. As the “louver pitch/ fin pitch” ratio (Lp/Pf) increases, the air
flow direction angle will be less than the louver angle. This will hurt core performance. Try to
keep Lp/Pf greater than 0.5.

Multi-Row Designs

Figure C-1a illustrates a typical, "conventional" two-row design. The dimensions are in
millimeters. The illustrated flow length of the RDL is LRD = 4.75 mm. The minimum practical
length possible for LRD is influenced by the spacing between tube rows (6.35 mm). Although
you could reduce LRD by putting in more louvers, this would be of no value. This is because it
would not be possible to conduct heat to the louvers between the tube rows. Figure C-1a has
been annotated to show the heat conduction path from the tube to the fin region between tube
rows. Note that the heat flow must "squeeze" between the end of the louver and the tube. This
causes a large temperature drop in the copper fin! PSURAD assumes that there is no heat
transfer in the fin region between the tube rows (where you should put the RDLs).

For a multi-row design, we do not recommend that you use RDL within a tube row. RDL
reduce performance! Use the RDL only between tube rows in a multi-row design.

The "Tubes-Touching" design discussed below is an improved design concept that does not
experience the poor heat conduction problems in the fin region between tube rows experienced
by the "conventional" multi-row design.

One-Row Designs

For a one-row design, the program assumes one set of RDL within the row. Normally,
"redirection louvers" (RDL) are used only between tube rows. The highest performance will
occur by minimizing the number and length of RDL. Try to get as many full louvers as
possible. RDL reduce performance!

Some brazed aluminum cores use deep tubes (e.g., 30 mm deep in the air flow direction). These
deep 1-row cores may have more than one re-direction louver over the air flow depth. Program
RAD allows you to use more than one re-direction louver over the depth of such a 1-row core.
This is input ANo. Redir Louv/Row,@ which appears just after ALouvers per Tube Row.@ This
input is valid only for 1-row cores.
Tubes-Touching Design

This design concept is discussed in the “Installation and User Instructions” and is applicable to
multi-row designs. It is intended to improve performance over the conventional multi-row
design. Because there is no space between the tubes in each row, there is no problem conducting
heat to the fins. Try to minimize the length (in the air flow direction) of the redirection louver.