Downloaded from SAE International by Stellantis N.V.

, Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Automotive LED Headlamp Defogging: Experimental and 2016-01-0216

Numerical Investigation Published 04/05/2016

Ramanand Singh, Remesh Kuzhikkali, Nitesh Shet, and Sekarapandian Natarajan

SABIC Tech Center

Govind Kizhedath
SABIC

Murugan Arumugam
SABIC Tech Center

CITATION: Singh, R., Kuzhikkali, R., Shet, N., Natarajan, S. et al., "Automotive LED Headlamp Defogging: Experimental and
Numerical Investigation," SAE Technical Paper 2016-01-0216, 2016, doi:10.4271/2016-01-0216.
Copyright © 2016 SAE International

Abstract the analysis to quantify the impact of these materials on defogging

performance, thus, enabling the selection of an appropriate lens
Fogging (i.e. condensation of water vapor) in headlamps in severe
material in terms of cost and performance with reduced
weather conditions present both a performance and potential safety
developmental cycle time. The validated numerical prediction method
concern for automotive companies. Conventional headlamps are
can be used to study the risk of condensation and the required
based on incandescent bulbs. In recent times, LED lighting has
defogging early in the design stage.
increasingly become the norm. However, LED based headlamps are
prone to higher levels of fogging because they inherently produce
less heat than the conventional incandescent or halogen bulbs. A Introduction
headlamp design must be able to dispose all the formed condensate/
Headlamps in automobiles are vital components both from a
fog in a fixed time even under severe thermal conditions. It is of great
performance and aesthetics standpoint. Recent years have witnessed
importance for the car manufacturer to be able to simulate the risk of
an increasing trend towards LED-based lamps driven by customer
condensation early in the design stage with an eye on the overall cost
demand for greater styling and appearance. Compared to
reduction. The combined use of experimental studies and numerical
conventional incandescent bulb based headlamps, LED-based
modelling is important to optimize headlamp design and to produce
headlamps inherently consume less electric power and produce less
high-performance headlamps. Most of the available literature on
heat while generating more light. However, in a cold and moist
headlamp defogging simulation is based, primarily, on 2D geometries
environment, the LED headlamps have shown a much higher
with simplified physics. However, in reality, the flow and thermal
propensity towards formation of fog due to condensation of water
field inside of a headlamp assembly is highly complicated,
vapor inside the headlamp assembly.
encompassing conduction, convection, radiation, phase change and
varying ambient conditions.
Headlamp fogging due to condensation is a major concern for the
automotive industry. Although LED based lighting have the potential
This paper presents an overview of experimental and numerical
to offers significant increase in efficiency and weight, they do not
investigations of the defogging process in an automotive headlamp.
offer the same IR radiation profile as incandescent lighting, thus,
In this study, the Eulerian Wall Film (EWF) approach is implemented
increasing the potential for fogging. The penetration of LED
on a three-dimensional geometry to capture the underlying physics
headlamps in automotive lighting is increasing as shown in Figure 1.
governing the defogging phenomenon inside the headlamp. Lab test
It is predicted that globally, by year 2025, close to 50% of the
observations indicate that the numerical predictions closely agree
headlamps and close to 85% of the rear lamps will be either with
with the experimental data. Moreover, this study includes simulations
LED or hybrids [1]. Figure 1 shows the graphical view of the light
on headlamp defogging characterization for different kinds of lens
source adoption trend for Auto front lighting.
materials. Lenses made of glass and polycarbonate are considered in
 Downloaded from SAE International by Stellantis N.V., Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Figure 1. Graphical view of the light source adoption trend for front lighting
in automotive [1]
Headlamp fogging is undesirable at least from two counts; first, from
a safety standpoint due to reduced visibility; and second, from an
aesthetics standpoint as the fog itself would be visible from outside.
An automotive headlamp housing can be considered as an enclosed
space with a very strong thermal interaction with the external
environment. Complicated features of headlamp assembly with
different components like the lens, reflector, LED modules, caps,
connectors and heatsinks significantly influence the fluid-thermal
behavior of the water vapor and air mixture inside.
Automobile manufactures have to provide efficient and rapid de-fogging
solutions for the LED headlamps to meet the safety and regulatory
requirements. Understanding the complex physics behind condensation
of water vapor is key in providing an acceptable solution.
At present, different techniques are used to address this issue. These
include anti-fog coating, active heating or forced convection. As these
methods are expensive and increase the complexity of design process,
it would be useful if we had a method in which headlamp fogging can
be predicted with reasonable accuracy.
Due to its long-term application in automobiles, the investigation of
automotive headlamps based on conventional incandescent bulbs
have received particular attention. However, there has been limited
work reported in open literature as far as LED based headlamps are
concerned. The dominant heat transfer mechanism of an LED
headlamp differs significantly from that of a conventional
incandescent bulb headlamp, which is dominated by strong radiative
heat transfer where natural convection dominates. This is due to very
high filament temperature (above 2000 °C) whereas the peak
temperature is usually below 150 °C in LED systems. Moreover,
contrary to LEDs, filament bulbs produce a lot of heat energy in the
headlamp housing, resulting in strong natural convection currents.
Due to these reasons, bulb-based headlamps inherently perform better
in terms of de-fogging compared to LED-based headlamps for a
given design. In LED systems, most of the heat is dissipated outside
of the housing through heatsinks for enhanced LED chip life.
Internal flow structure and thermal fields inside an automotive LED
headlamp is dominated by natural convection coupled with phase
change of the moisture. The physics of natural convention has been
widely investigated in a variety of applications on simplified
geometries by many authors and researchers [2-3]. However, the
construction of a headlamp is fundamentally more complex than just
a cavity with an internal heat source [4]. Moreover, a strong coupling
of natural convention with condensation / evaporation of the moisture
brings additional challenges to simulate the thermofluid behavior of
the headlamp. Some of the lessons could be leveraged from the
literature on the well-known and relatively better-understood problem
of automotive windshield fogging / frosting [5-6]. In fact, many other
applications like refrigerated display cabinets involving similar
physical phenomenon have been investigated by D’Agaro et al. [7].
Attempts to simulate headlamps using finite element methods have
been reported by Moore and Powers [8]. They solved a coupled
radiation and natural convection physics on an unstructured mesh.
Another attempt to simulate condensation phenomenon was made by
Erik Preihs [9] using an analytical method on a 2D geometry. The
analytical solution is based on a temperature map consisting of heat
transfer, natural convection and radiation. A calculated temperature
was used to derive the relative humidity based on empirical formulae
followed by dew point calculations using the Magnus-Tetens formula.
This is used to quantify whether the calculated inner surface
temperature is lower than the analytical dew point inside the volume.
Chenevier [10], Wulf et al. [11] and Halgren et al. [12] carried out
thermal load calculation inside an automobile lighting system using
sophisticated CFD tools. Croce G. et al. [13] carried out a numerical
simulation of the defogging process on a windshield. Overall, these
studies have shown a good understanding of underlying physics
inside a bulb-based headlamp. However, none of the aforementioned
numerical simulations deal with headlamps based on LED lighting.
Hence, the lack of experimental data and the need for a better
understanding of the underlying physics in an LED headlamp have
provided the basis for the present study.
In the present study, the fluid-thermal behavior of a representative
LED headlamp is investigated on a box like geometry with internal
volumetric heat source representing the heat generated by LED chip.
A thermal imager has been employed to map the thermal field on the
lens outer surface. Thermocouples are used to measure the steady state
temperature at different locations inside the housing. A corresponding
three-dimensional numerical simulation is performed and the
predictions are validated with the test data. The simulations are carried
out using ANSYSTM FLUENTTM -a commercially available CFD tool.
The defogging of water condensate on the lens inner surface is
modeled with the Eulerian Wall Film (EWF) approach. The validated
numerical method has been used for subsequent simulations of the
defogging behavior of the headlamp. A distinctive feature of the
current work is that it also includes the impact of two different lens
materials comprising glass and polycarbonate on defogging
performance of the headlamp assembly. Overall, the following
approach has been adopted in the current work.
 Downloaded from SAE International by Stellantis N.V., Wednesday, September 28, 2022

EXPRIMENTAL APPARATUS & TESTING

PROCEDURE
The experimental test setup consists of a simple three-dimensional
box-like representative LED headlamp. The measurement techniques
employed are thermal imagers, J-type thermocouples including a data
acquisition system, and a high resolution digital camera. A detailed
description of the test apparatus is given in the following sections. Figure 4. Heat source (resistive heater) is sandwiched between two aluminum
plates

Headlamp Construction
As shown in Figure 2, a simple box-type headlamp with a rectangular
lens made of either glass or polycarbonate materials is used for the
experimental investigation. The box volume mimics the headlamp
housing internal space. The lens is inclined with respect to the
vertical direction in order to simulate the realistic effect of gravity on
the condensate film flow/evaporation of the lens internal wall as
illustrated in Figure 3. The inclination angle (θ) of the lens is 35°
from the vertical. A surface heater sandwiched between aluminum
plates mimicking LED heat is used as the heating source (Figure 4).
The power input to the surface heater is regulated in such a way that Figure 5. Details of the heat source placement inside the headlamp assembly
it closely represents the heat produced by the LED chip in a typical
LED-based automotive headlamp. The heating plate is kept in a
Measurement Methodology
hanging position inside the housing as shown in Figure 5. The box
In this study, two measurement techniques are employed.
headlamp assembly is sealed to avoid any active flow exchange from
Thermocouples are used for temperature measurement inside the
the surrounding representing a real life headlamp operating scenario.
housing as well as the heat source. An IR thermal imager is used to
The power level of the heat source can be regulated in terms of
capture the lens outer surface temperature development with respect
voltage and current by means of a DC power source.
to time. A high definition digital optical camera is used to capture the
images of defogging progress at periodic time intervals. Overall, the
test setup is a combined arrangement of all these instruments (Figure
6), enabling simultaneous measurement of different parameters
affecting the defogging process.

Figure 2. Experimental headlamp showing the housing, lens and heat source

Figure 6. Lab Test Setup Showing the IR Imager, Digital Camera and the
Thermocouples

The following is a detailed description of these measurement devices.

Figure 3. Lens inclined (θ) from vertical to mimic the real life effects of
gravity on film formation and flow
Thermal Imager
A thermal imaging camera works on the principle of detection of the
infrared range of electromagnetic spectrum. Infrared radiation (8-14
μm) is emitted by all bodies whose temperature is above absolute zero.
 Downloaded from SAE International by Stellantis N.V., Wednesday, September 28, 2022

The thermal imager detects and quantifies the emitted energy over the
operational wavelength range of the imager (λ1-λ2). Temperature is
then calculated by relating the measured energy to the temperature of
a blackbody radiating an equivalent amount of energy according to
Planck’s Blackbody Law using the Equation (1) below:
(1)
to rise due to the density difference and the colder air enters from
below. This in turns sets a buoyancy driven convection current
inside the headlamp. Radiation from the LED light source is
absorbed by the nearby surfaces. The heat absorbed by the lens and
housing walls are transported through the materials by heat
conduction to the external environment. Figure 8 depicts the heat
transfer mechanisms and convection currents that are present in the
headlamp and its surroundings.

In the above equation, the emissivity ε is specified by the user. The

thermal imager measurement accuracy is highly sensitive to the
surface emissivity as the input. Many times, it is not possible to have
the accurate emissivity value of the given surface. In this situation,
calibration of the thermal imager becomes important. In the current
study, a thermocouple is used to measure the lens wall surface
temperature at different location. Then the thermal image emissivity
is tuned to match the thermocouples reading for the corresponding
locations. In subsequent measurements, the tuned emissivity value
was specified in the thermal imager device to capture the lens
surface temperature.

Thermocouple Device
Infrared measurement techniques are not suitable for locations having Figure 8. Natural Convection, Conduction and Radiation Phenomenon inside
limited optical access. Thermal imaging method is usually employed of the Headlamp Housing
in this context to identify the ‘‘hot spots’’ on external surfaces only.
Further, there are multitude of sources for inaccuracy in the use of Condensation on the Headlamp Lens
infrared sensors. For example, uncertain emissivity values, non-
The moist air mainly consists of nitrogen, oxygen and water vapor
planar surfaces, parasitic radiation from other components. Therefore,
with small traces of carbon dioxide and argon. The amount of water
the accuracy achieved by a thermocouple measurement constitutes a
vapor in the atmospheric air is expressed by the relative humidity,
better option. In the present study, J-type thermocouple are employed
which is limited by the temperature and pressure. If moist air gets in
to measure the temperature on the heat source, the top side and
contact with a cold surface having temperature below the dew point,
bottom sides of the housing as these locations are critical in terms of
water will deposit from the air onto the surface. Thus water vapor is
thermal and flow behavior inside the headlamp. These thermocouples
removed from the air with the condensation mechanism when the
are attached to the housing by drilling tiny holes across the housing
temperature drops below the dew point.
wall, minimizing any possible flow exchange between the headlamp
cavity and ambient as shown in Figure 7.
Usually condensation on the surface of cold objects such as
automotive headlamp lens is formed as tiny water droplets and can be
seen as fog. This condensation phenomena can simply be explained
by the inner surface of the transparent lens having a temperature
equal to or above the current dew point of the air adjacent to the lens.
The present work simplifies the analysis by assuming the
condensation on the inside of the lens as film condensation. This
assumption is considered to be a conservative approach as described
by H K Versteeg and W Malalasekera [14]. Also, the present study
made use of the Eulerian Wall Film (EWF) model [15].
Figure 7. Thermocouple wires placed inside the housing
Governing Equations
A digital optical camera was employed to take snapshots of the lens
The fundamental equations that govern fluid flow and heat transfer
surface to capture the progression of condensate/fog evaporation at
are the conservation of mass (Eq. 2), conservation of momentum (Eq.
periodic intervals. The use of a standard photographic camera with
3) and the conservation of energy equation (Eq. 4).
flash usually highlights even the smallest traces of condensate, which
may not be visible to the human eye.
Conservation of mass
This equation is often referred to as the continuity equation
Numerical Modeling Methodology
The flow of air and vapor mixture inside the headlamp depends
mainly on natural convection, which is induced by the heat from the
LED chip as the heat source. The LED chip will heat the (2)
surrounding air resulting into its lower density. The hot air is forced
 Downloaded from SAE International by Stellantis N.V., Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Conservation on Momentum
For a Newtonian fluid, this equations keeps a balance between the
pressure, momentum and viscous forces.
(3)
where,
ρ=density, p=pressure, μ =viscosity, g=gravity field
The Energy Equation
Conservation of energy states the total amount of energy is conserved
in the system.
(4)
where,
cp=ratio of specific heat, T=temperature, k=thermal conductivity, Q =
source term
Eulerian Wall Films
The Eulerian Wall Film (EWF) model is used to predict the creation
and flow of thin liquid films on the headlamp lens inner wall. In this
approach, the film thickness is assumed to be small compared to the
radius of curvature of the surface so that the film properties do not
vary across the thickness. The film formed is thin enough so that the
liquid flow in the film can be considered parallel to the wall as shown
in the Figure 9. The model uses a virtual film on the lens inner
surface, which flows parallel to the wall and does not affect the core
flow momentum field, but affects the temperature and species
concentration of the core flow. The EWF model can be used with a
3D solver only.
Figure 9. Mechanism of Heat and Mass Transfer for the Wall-film
Mass, Momentum, and Energy Conservation Equations for Wall
Film (EWF)
In the EWF model, the liquid film evaporates to vapor species and
increases the vapor mass fraction of the core flow; and it is modeled
by Species Transport.
Conservation of mass for a film in a three dimensional domain is
given in the equation (5) below
(5)
where ρl is the liquid density, h the film height, ∇s is the surface
gradient operator, Vl the mean film velocity and ṁs the mass source
per unit wall area.
Conservation of film momentum is given in the below equation
(6)
The terms on the left hand side of Equation (6) represents transient and
convection effects, respectively. On the right hand side, the first term is
the effect of gravity in the direction parallel to the film; the second term
represents the viscous shear force at the gas-film interface, and the last
term is associated with the viscous force in the film.
Conservation of film energy is given as:
(7)
In the above equation, Ts is the temperature at the film-gas interface;
Tf is the average film; Tw is the wall temperature; the film
temperature varies from Tw to Tf in the lower half of the film and
from Tf to Ts in the upper half as shown in Figure 10. is the
mass vaporization or condensation rate and L is the latent heat
associated with the phase change.
Figure 10. Bilinear temperature profile in the film
Equation (5), (6) and Equation (7) form the foundation of EWF
modeling. These equations are solved on the surface of a wall boundary.
Computational Model Setup
Solid and fluid domains were discretized using a tetra-prism mesh as
shown in the Figure 11. In particular, prism layers were used inside
each solid domains and near the wall interfacing with a fluid zone.
Also, the boundary layer mesh is introduced on the lens inner surface
for the condensate film as well as the heat source surface as shown in
the Figure 12. The numerical analysis is carried out using ANSYSTM
FLUENTTM 3D version with double precision Pressure-based
Transient solver. Moreover, the time step and the convergence criteria
were chosen in order to minimize the computational time without
compromising result quality and method robustness. The turbulence
k-ε model with Enhanced Wall Treatment option is chosen.
Temperature dependent material properties are employed while
 Downloaded from SAE International by Stellantis N.V., Wednesday, September 28, 2022
solving transport of thermos-fluid equations. The Wall Film model is
tuned for Condensation/ Vaporization Rate Constants keeping in view
the experimental data depending upon the application and ambient
condition. Under the Solution parameters, PISO is chosen as the
Pressure-Velocity Coupling. Least Square Cell Based is used for
Gradient in the Spatial Discretization with First Order Implicit for
Transient Formulation. The momentum, energy and species transport
equations are solved using the First Order Upwind scheme.
Figure 11. Headlamp Computation Mesh- Tetrahedral Elements & Prism
layers
Figure 12. Wall Boundary Prism layers on the Heat Source (left side) and on
the Condensate Film (right side)
Initial and Boundary Conditions
At the initial time the heat-source is switched off, the temperature is
23 °C and the relative humidity 95%. A fog is created on the
headlamp lens inner surface shown in Figure 13. It is assumed that
the vehicle is parked and then the LED headlamp power is switched
on. Accordingly, the external heat transfer coefficient (HTC) value of
10 W/m2-K is assumed.
Figure 13. Instrumented Headlamp (right) showing the fog created inside of
the inner surface of the lens (right image)
The boundary conditions used in the simulation are summarized in
the following table:
Table 1. Material Properties and Operating Conditions
Table 2. Boundary and Operating Conditions
Results & Discussion
First set of lab testing is focused on generating reliable data in order
to validate the numerical simulation capability and prediction
accuracy of the defogging process. In this attempt the headlamp lens
made of glass was employed. The total heat generated by a LED chip
is mostly dissipated into the surrounding through the heatsink.
However, a small portion of this heat is trapped inside the headlamp
housing itself which is mainly responsible for the defogging
phenomenon. This heating value might vary depending on the type
and power of the actual LED headlamp in the application.
Validation of Numerical Simulation with Testing
The numerical validation of the CFD method is carried out by
comparing the predicted fogged / de-fogged regions of the lens with
the lab test observations. Also, the simulated contours of the lens
outer surface temperature is compared with the IR thermal imager for
the same geometry and operating conditions. Following is the details
of these comparisons.
Comparisons in Terms of De-Fogged (Evaporated) and Fogged
(Unevaporated) Region
The following Figure 14 shows the boundary that demarcates the
evaporated (top side) and unevaporated (bottom side) regions of the
condensate on the lens inner surface. The blue region in Figure 14 from
simulation (left side image) represents the defogged portion of the lens
and remaining bottom portion as fogged or unevaporated region.
Comparisons in Terms of Lens Outer Surface Temperature Field
In Figure 15, the temperature field on the lens’ outer surface from
thermal imager and from numerical simulation are compared. The
numerical simulation in this regard are carried out by keeping the
geometry and operating conditions the same as that of the lab testing.
The thermal imager was calibrated using a set of thermocouples to
establish realistic emissivity values. It was found that the glass lens
emissivity of 0.92 was the most representative value.
 Downloaded from SAE International by Stellantis N.V., Wednesday, September 28, 2022

conductivity of glass and polycarbonate. The thermal conductivity of

glass (0.8 W/m-K) is much higher than polycarbonate (0.19 W/m-K).
Therefore, glass allows for higher heat dissipation to the external
environment from inside of the headlamp housing. On the other hand,
the polycarbonate lens retains much of the heat produced by the LED
chip due to its lower thermal conductivity. That is why the de-fogging
effectiveness of a polycarbonate lens is significantly higher than that
of the glass lens, as evident in the Figure 17. Moreover, the effect of
external ambient change impact on the fog formation is also lower in
the case of a polycarbonate lens material due to the same logic of
lower thermal conductivity or, in other words, the higher thermal
(Lab Testing) (Numerical Simulation) resistance. Apart from the thermal conductivity benefit of
polycarbonate over glass, the design freedom is also very high.
Figure 14. Comparison of the Lens Inner Wall Condensate Film qualitatively Polycarbonate lenses can be molded easily into three-dimensional
showing the boundary of evaporated (defogged) region and unevaporated
shapes keeping in view the aesthetics and functionality.
(fog) region at steady state

Figure 15. Lens Outer Wall Temperature Field (°C) from IR Thermal Imager.
Figure 16. Comparison of the Lens Outer Wall Temperature Field (°C) from
Numerical Simulation for glass (left side) and Polycarbonate (right side)
From the above comparisons (Figures 14) of the evaporated wall
film, it is evident that numerical predictions are in close agreement
with the lab test observations. However, there is small mismatch
between the location of the boundary of evaporated and unevaporated
condensate regions. This issue could be attributed to flow field
change inside the headlamp housing due to the presence of
thermocouples and other flow obstacles that are not modeled in the
numerical predictions. The temperature field predictions on the lens
outer wall closely match the test data as shown in Figure 15.

Overall, the defogging numerical prediction capability is demonstrated

and could be used for subsequent simulations to study the sensitivity
of different parameters such as material type, ambient temperature,
etc., which control a headlamp’s de-fogging performance.
Effect of Lens Materials on Defogging: Glass vs.
Polycarbonate
Numerical simulation are carried out to study the impact of different
type of lens materials on the defogging effectiveness. In this study,
the glass and polycarbonate are chosen as the lens materials as given
in the Table 1. The boundary conditions as mentioned in the Table 2.
The following is the comparison of different parameters affecting the
defogging performance for glass and polycarbonate as lens materials.
Figure 16 shows the comparison of temperature field on the lens’
outer surface. It is evident that the glass lens surface temperature is
lower than that of polycarbonate. This difference in thermal behavior
of the lens surface could be attributed to the differences in the thermal
Figure 17. Comparison of the Lens Inner Wall Condensate Film Thickness (m)
from Numerical Simulation for glass (left side) and Polycarbonate (right side)
These findings clearly show that the choice of an automotive
headlamp lens material and system design needs to be made carefully.
This is crucial to achieve required thermal performance in terms of
defogging and the design freedom needed to obtain complex shapes
from an aesthetics and assembly standpoint.
Summary/Conclusions
A numerical simulation capability to predict the defogging
phenomenon in a LED based headlamp has been demonstrated. The
simulation accuracy has been validated through lab testing. Because
of difficulties in measuring condensate mass on the lens, at present,
 Downloaded from SAE International by Stellantis N.V., Wednesday, September 28, 2022
only a qualitative comparison has been be made. It can be noticed
that the two results are in good agreement qualitatively, highlighting
a region of condensate film evaporation on the inner side of the lens.
At the same time, predicted temperature field on the lens wall are in
close agreement with the thermal imager contour. The current work
leverages a proposed numerical method to carry out sensitivity
analyses of lens materials on defogging effectiveness. Based on this
study, polycarbonate can offer some performance advantages
compared to glass based on thermal conductivity. This is particularly
true for LED-based headlamps. The same logic could potentially be
extended to automotive glazing components as well. There are many
parameters that affect the underlying thermo-fluid physics inside an
automotive headlamp. Due to the complexity of the problem,
numerical simulations are performed on a simplified headlamp
geometry and approximated heat-source representing the effect of
LED chip heating. Nevertheless, numerical simulations are capable of
giving detailed information on the thermo-fluid-dynamics of the
headlamp, taking into account the condensation/evaporation
phenomena that may occur on the lens. The numerical simulations
clearly highlights the critical areas of a headlamp design in terms of
condensate / fog formation and disposal. This information can be
crucial and helpful in an early phase of a real headlamp design and
development and, thus, can reduce the number of prototypes and
overall cycle time. Numerical simulation also helps gather important
information in terms of the condensate/fog distribution and film
thickness of the water layer. Overall, the current study demonstrates
the capability and usefulness of numerical simulation combined with
experimental studies as a powerful tool for optimizing the LED
headlamp design to realize high performance.
Recommendation For Future Work
To assess the robustness and accuracy of the proposed prediction
method additional validation studies can be performed over a range
of operating parameters. For example a stationary vehicle headlamp
is subjected to different kind of thermo-fluid scenario compared to
that of a running vehicle. In the former case the natural convention
dominates the flow field and in the latter case it is the forced
convection. Also, sensitivity of changes in ambient temperature,
pressure and humidity needs to be studied in detail in order to
establish the applicability and limitations of the proposed model.
Moreover, type of LED system, lens materials, wall thickness and
surface treatment would have an impact on how effective a headlamp
design is from defogging standpoint. Including these parameters in
the form of additional work would be helpful in quantifying the
applicability and benefits of the proposed method. Finally due to the
difficulties in measuring condensate mass on the lens, at present, only
a qualitative comparison is made. It would be of great importance to
devise a method to measure the film thickness in order to make a
quantitative comparisons with the predicted results.
References
1. Driving Vision News - Global Study (2013); and data from key
auto lighting tiers
2. Jue, T.C., 2003. Analysis of thermal convection in a fluid-
saturated porous cavity with internal heat generation. Heat and
Mass Transfer 40 (1-2), 83-89
3. Barozzi, G.S., Corticelli, M.A., 2000. Natural convection in
cavities containing internal sources. Heat and Mass Transfer 36
(6), 473-480.
4. Sun, Y.S., Emery, A.F., 1997. Effects of wall conduction,
internal heat sources and an internal baffle on natural convection
heat transfer in a rectangular enclosure. International Journal of
Heat and Mass Transfer 40 (4), 915-929.
5. Croce G., D’Agaro P. and Mattiello F., De Angelis A. (2004),
‘A numerical procedure for defogging process simulation in
automotive industry’, International Conference on Heat and
Mass Transfer, Corfu, Greece, August, pp. 17-19.
6. Croce G., D’Agaro P., De Angelis A. and Mattiello F. (2007),
‘Numerical simulation of windshield defogging process’,
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D:
Journal of Automobile Engineering, 221, pp.1241-1249.
7. D’Agaro P., Croce G. and Cortella G. (2006), ‘Numerical
simulation of glass doors fogging and defogging in refrigerated
display cabinets’, Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 26, pp.
1927-1934.
8. Moore, W. and Powers, C., "Temperature Predictions for
Automotive Headlamps Using a Coupled Specular Radiation
and Natural Convection Model," SAE Technical Paper 1999-01-
0698, 1999, doi:10.4271/1999-01-0698.
9. Preihs, E. (2006). Analytic Solution and Measurements of
Condensation inside a Headlamp, COMSOL Conference 2006
10. Chenevier, C., 2001. Thermal simulation in lighting systems-5
days/5 degrees. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International
Symposium Progress in Automotive Lighting, Darmstadt,
Germany, pp. 109-118.
11. Wulf, J. and Reich, A., "Temperature Loads in Headlamps,"
SAE Technical Paper 2002-01-0912, 2002, doi:10.4271/2002-
01-0912.
12. Halgren, C. and Hilburger, F., "Development and Correlation
of Internal Heat Test Simulation Using CFD," SAE Technical
Paper 2003-01-0647, 2003, doi:10.4271/2003-01-0647.
13. Croce G., D’Agaro P., De Angelis A. and Mattiello F. (2007),
‘Numerical simulation of windshield defogging process’,
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical
14. Versteeg H K, Malalasekera W, An introduction to
Computational Fluid Dynamics - The finite Volume method,
second edition, 2007
15. ANSYSTM FLUENTTM 12, Theory Guide
Contact Information
ramanand.singh@sabic.com
Acknowledgments
Authors also would like thank various reviewers, both internal and
external, for providing valuable and constructive feedbacks about the
manuscript for further improvement.
 Downloaded from SAE International by Stellantis N.V., Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Definitions/Abbreviations
°C - Degree Celsius
W - Watt
m - meter
HTC - Heat Transfer Coefficient
EWF - Eulerian Wall Film
PC - Polycarbonate
IR Imager - Infrared Imager
TC - Thermocouples
CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics
DAS - Data Acquisition System
ε - Emissivity
ελ - Spectral emissivity
T - Absolute temperature in K
Ebλ - Monochromatic emissive power
λ - Wavelength of emissions

The Engineering Meetings Board has approved this paper for publication. It has successfully completed SAE’s peer review process under the supervision of the session organizer. The process
requires a minimum of three (3) reviews by industry experts.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of SAE International.

Positions and opinions advanced in this paper are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of SAE International. The author is solely responsible for the content of the paper.

ISSN 0148-7191

http://papers.sae.org/2016-01-0216