Powertrain Cooling

GT-SUITE’s flow solution is built on the Navier-Stokes equations and stays stable even at zero flow, which is key for modeling thermostat valves during warm-up. The energy equation is always solved, giving engineers a full thermo-hydraulic picture of how the cooling system, structure, and combustion chamber interact.

Before a single prototype exists, engineers can already see how heat moves through an engine. GT-SUITE’s built-in finite element cylinder structure models heat transfer to the coolant and oil circuits using parametric geometry, keeping setup fast even for complex designs. By modeling conduction paths between every heat source and sink, it predicts thermal balance accurately enough for system design, component selection, and controls optimization, all before physical hardware is required.

Liquid circuits and thermal masses are constructed semi-automatically from 3D CAD data, significantly reducing manual setup time. Engineers can use a parametric finite element cylinder structure for quick iteration or a custom finite element mesh for detailed component analysis.

Warm-up behavior has a measurable impact on fuel economy, and GT-SUITE lets engineers study it in detail before hardware is available. Connecting powertrain cooling models to full vehicle systems allows teams to simulate warm-up strategies across transient drive cycles and compare fuel savings between different approaches. Advanced thermostat valve modeling is also supported, so warm-up optimization isn’t limited to simple on/off logic.