The traditional approach has been to attach a plastic fan shroud to the radiator, but this requires an opening much larger than the fan to avoid interference due to relative motion. The result is air pressure loss at the fan tips and reduced airflow to the engine.

Hydro worked closely with its customers to produce an aluminum fan shroud that mounts directly to the engine block, like the fan, allowing a much closer fan-to-shroud fit. The resulting Hydro fan shroud design, a lower cost all-aluminum solution, delivers better air flow and improved engine cooling.

Today, Hydro produces more than 100,000 fan shrouds annually for a number of different OEM’s and Tier 1 manufacturers.

Hydro’s fan shrouds are extruded to form the profile at our Kalamazoo, Michigan plant using a 6063 aluminum alloy (aluminum + manganese + silicon). The 6063 alloy is an excellent choice for extrudability, as well as for strength and endurance in a hot engine environment.

The extruded components are sent to our contract manufacturing plant in Sidney, Ohio where our fabrication teams cut the profiles to length, punch holes, stamp, bend and weld them to form the fan shrouds. A roll bender is used for efficient production and to achieve the required constant radius. For certain applications, we artificially age the metal for added strength. The final step is to affix fasteners and rubber gaskets.

The size of the shroud depends on the customer’s engine requirements and fan size, with most accommodating fan diameters between 26 inches and 44 inches. We use Statistical Process Control (SPC) to assure the achievement of the critical dimensions necessary.

The aluminum fan shrouds from Hydro improve engine airflow to better protect the engine against overheating while enhancing overall engine efficiency. It’s another example of how our engineering team works with our customers to develop a better solution using aluminum extrusions.