Based on the requirements and needs related to different vehicle powertrain development use-cases defined by the industry partners, electrical energy storage component models with improved accuracy and the related seamless parameterization methods were elaborated. The e-machine and power electronic related modelling activities were focused on the development and validation of an integrated multi-physics simulation approach for different types of e-motors and inverters. Advanced engine and aftertreatment system models with increased accuracy and improved performance were developed, comprising innovative sub-models of turbo-charging devices, coolant/oil circuits and aftertreatment components. Furthermore, novel and innovative coupling and co-simulation methods were adopted to efficiently interface the electrical, thermal and thermodynamic component models to support an integrated multi-domain system simulation approach.
Validation of the VISION-xEV virtual component and system integration framework and the impact assessment with regards to the overall project goals was carried out on the basis of its application to dedicated development tasks related to the industry use-cases.
In this context, simulation models of innovative catalytic aftertreatment components including electrically heated catalyst and phase-change material parts were studied for a passenger car PHEV configuration. Vehicle performance, fuel consumption and pollutant emissions were investigated for standard and real driving cycles. The results show that the optimized sub-models and advanced coupling approaches lead to improved prediction accuracy, confirming that the VISION-xEV framework can be applied to properly determine the optimal engine as well as associated aftertreatment system configuration for hybrid applications.
The VISION-xEV simulation framework was also used to determine the optimum choice and performance of the hybrid powertrain layout for an HEV urban bus application. To this end a digital twin of the vehicle was created, using models from the project partners and validated with measured data. The resulting models were adopted in two case studies to evaluate the impact of different missions and configurations on the hybrid vehicle performance. The results obtained were analyzed with a strong focus on the electrified components and used to perform an impact assessment out of the new simulation procedures on simulation efficiency and product development time.
In the battery management related use-case, digital twin models for a PHEV passenger car configuration were set up, with a battery sized to accomplish the entire WLTC cycle in pure electric mode. The capabilities of the digital twin models were shown for different driving cycles, energy management and charging strategies, and adopted to study the impact of different scenarios on the battery thermal system. The achievements of the research activities clearly show that once the simulation archetype is defined, the multi-physical domain modelling effort adopting the VISION-xEV approach is considerably reduced with respect to current technologies.
In addition, the applicability of the VISION-xEV simulation framework was demonstrated for development tasks related to PHEV transmission and e-components configuration, BEV thermal management system layout and HEV powertrain configuration and energy efficiency assessment. The results clearly demonstrate that the improved component models as well as the elaborated coupling and co-simulation methods are able to successfully support fast and seamless multi-domain vehicle system model generation, their efficient simulation and easy exchange of component and sub-system models provided by the project partners.
Exploitation of project achievements has been related to the advanced software modelling and methods, including the related experimental characterization and model parameterization approaches, vehicle/powertrain development processes and extended lecture/teaching material. Furthermore, the findings and achievements have been continuously disseminated in the course of the project via paper publications at conferences and in selected journals, as well as via presentations at workshops.
