Active Air Blinds

Two concepts, one goal

Active Air Blinds (AAB) - radiator blinds intelligently influence the aerodynamics to our advantage. Very similar to their sister product Active Grille Shutter (AGS), they control the air flow directly at the front of the vehicle. When closed, the engine compartment is sealed off and the air flow is directed around the vehicle. The effect is comparable to the advantages of our Active Grille Shutter: less air resistance, lower-emission driving and faster heating of certain components are just a few examples.

Well-known principle efficiently optimized

Instead of individual air flaps in the grill, the Active Air Blinds use a textile blind in the front of the vehicle. The system works like a roller blind: when the textile is rolled up, it opens the way into the engine compartment. To close, the integrated cable guide pulls the blind in front of the air inlets. This works infinitely variable. This allows efficient operation even while heat is being dissipated.

Compact solution with many advantages

Since the textile can cover the entire front surface, very little leakage is guaranteed. The system is completely integrated into the mounting frame and is therefore particularly light and space-saving. This makes the Active Air Blinds a compact solution for vehicles with little space in the front of the vehicle. For even more flexibility, the blinds can be moved in either a horizontal or vertical direction.

The most important highlights

• Improved aerodynamics: lower CO₂ emissions and off-cycle credits
• Higher range and battery thermal management, especially for electric vehicles
• Slim design enables packaging for either aerodynamics or thermal management applications
• Significantly improved leakage as compared to a traditional AGS
• Faster cold start due to optimized thermal properties
• Modular structure for cross-architecture application
• Robustly constructed for the entire service life of the vehicle
• Integrated concepts for sealing/airflow
• Lightweight and space-saving through structural integration
• Prepared for on-board diagnostics (OBD)
• Optional additional functions

Your customer benefit through our Active Air Blinds

Intelligent airflow management

• All the advantages of a full face AGS (Active Grille Shutter)
• Reduction of the drag coefficient through active cooling air control and brake ventilation management
• Improved cold start, resulting in lower emissions and wear
• Mounted as part of the cooling pack, efficiently manages thermal properties of heat exchangers

Structural integration

• Hybrid construction combines plastic, metal and organofilm

Flexible design

• Closing of the air inlets by a sliding textile blind (instead of rotating lamellas)
• Space-saving, slim design especially for vehicles with very little space in x direction
• Best results in crash tests, "soft" crash behavior
• Considerably reduced tendency to leakage compared to active systems with lamellas
• Particularly suitable for BEV applications, as there are slower temperature fluctuations at a low temperature level
• Modular design enables cross-architecture application
• Surrounding parts can be integrated optionally
• Integrated concepts for sealing/airflow

Cost reduction

• Cost advantages through cooperation with actuator suppliers
• Innovative materials and technologies from Röchling Automotive (for example GIT, MuCell and many more)

Full service from Röchling

• Röchling has many years of experience and numerous references
• The complete system comes from us: from the overall concept to development, testing, validation and production
• Excellent simulation capacities are available at Röchling:
  • CFD
  • Fluid-structure interaction
  • Pressure diagrams: Type 1 ((module) leakage through the closure device), Type 2 ((seal) leakage around the closure device)
• Industry leadership in mechatronics development
• Know-how about on-board diagnostics at system level
• Testing at component and system level (including wind tunnel for proprietary components)
• On request, testing at vehicle level (wind tunnel, track test)
• Development and production at numerous locations worldwide