Auto radiator is an indispensable part of water-cooled combustion engine. Because there will be a high temperature as the engines are working, the auto radiator has to cool the engine in order to assure the normal working of engines. Compared with the other technology in connection with auto engines, the progress of radiator technique is backward. With the stricter standards on emissions and higher requirement for comfort ability, there are more and more heat exchangers equipped with the cars. In the meantime, there is also new requirement for radiator designing which leads to more progress on the technology of radiator. The development is focus on the optimization of geometric parameter, radiator materials of high heat transfer coefficient and compact structure.

The auto radiators can be classified into: gilled tube radiator and tubular radiator. The difference between the two radiators is their different core structure. The core of gilled tube radiator consists of mainboard, tube and heat sink. The gilled tube radiator is featured by strong structure and it can prevent the dust as well as greasy dirt to clog the core. So it is used in heavy truck with high vibration and bad working condition. Its disadvantage is the complex of production progress and low heat transfer. By contrast, tubular radiator is equipped with cars of small and medium power in a reversal merits and demerits of gilled tube radiator.

Nowadays light and compact is the tendency in the development of radiator industry. So the plastic materials will be used in the elements of radiators. Commonly, the enhanced nylon (the nylon with glass fiber) is made into the water chamber of radiator by the injection molding. In that case, the core of radiator can be connected to the water chamber mechanically without soldering. The advantage of that radiator includes simple production process, low cost, light weight and the complicated components to be brazed originally are available to forming at once etc. Now the radiator with cooper-plastic and aluminum-plastic structure is widely used in the salon car. On the one hand, there will be more demand for higher heat release with an increasing area and size of heat release. On the other hand, in a limited space of engine cabin, with more and more heat exchangers, more and more cars are required to be equipped with the radiator with small size, light weight and high heat transfer. In the future, there must be also efficient radiator materials to meet the demand for lighter and smaller cars to achieve the effect of energy conservation.