Hydrodynamic retarders, are used to support the braking system in commercial vehicles as a wear free hydrodynamic brake. The reduction in vehicle speed is activated by the transfer of movement energy of the crankshaft into thermal energy of the hydraulic oil. Once heated, hydraulic oil then flows through an oil cooler. This part of the retarder feeds thermal energy via a coolant to the vehicle's main cooling circuit. As a part which is relevant to the systems function, the oil cooler is flanged directly to the retarder and must withstand both extreme temperature and pressure loads. A fault in the retarder cooling system will cause this hydrodynamic brake to overheat quickly and fail.
Oil cooler for hydrodynamic retarder
Within the hydrodynamic retarder an oil cooler cools down the hydraulic oil.
