Mechatronic Control of A Car Cooling System

Abstract

This article examines the modeling of passenger car internal combustion engine cooling systems based on mechatronic control. In this work, the mechatronic engine cooling system of a passenger car was studied using a mathematical model. The dynamics of the cooling system were described using heat balance equations and modeled using MATLAB/Simulink. In the study, the effect of the cooling fan on the process was taken into account through the radiator heat transfer coefficient. Based on the developed model, four control strategies were analyzed and compared: conventional thermostat control, ON/OFF electronic control, PID control, and Lyapunov-based control. The simulation results show that conventional and ON/OFF methods exhibit larger temperature deviations and oscillations, while the PID and especially the Lyapunov-based controller ensure faster and more stable convergence of engine temperature to the desired value. The obtained results confirm that the application of advanced mechatronic control algorithms significantly improves the thermal regulation and stability of automotive cooling systems.