Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit Software Download
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Engineers building next-generation fuel cell, hybrid electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles must optimize fuel economy and performance while containing development costs. To meet these goals, they need to simulate multiple powertrain configurations without building costly physical prototypes.
In response to this need, Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) collaborated with leading auto-makers to develop the Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT), an automotive engineering tool that evaluates a vehicle's fuel economy and performance by simulating its transient behavior and control system characteristics. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Program funded the development of PSAT and uses PSAT as its primary vehicle simulation tool for all FreedomCAR and 21st Century Truck Partnership activities.
Using Simulink and other MathWorks products, Argonne researchers not only developed PSAT; they also distributed the many complex simulations needed to evaluate vehicle performance in a multiprocessor environment. Distributing the hundreds of simulations required for each vehicle enabled them to get results much more quickly.
DOE studies frequently include up to 800 vehicles that employ a wide range of technologies. Evaluating just one vehicle involves a complex set of variables, technologies, and performance metrics, including driving cycle, fuel economy, and range (for plug-in vehicles).
Argonne researchers needed a flexible modeling and simulation environment that would enable PSAT to support a wide range of technologies. "We wanted a design that would make it easy to plug in new technologies," notes Argonne researcher Sylvain Pagerit. "For example, changing an engine had to be simple."
"We developed an advanced vehicle framework and scalable powertrain components in Simulink, designed controllers with Stateflow, automated the assembly of models with MATLAB scripts, and then distributed the complex simulation runs on a computing cluster," says Pagerit.
Working in Simulink, Pagerit and his colleagues created a vehicle framework based on bond-graph, which captured the energy flows around the system. They then developed models for a wide range of powertrain components, including the fuel cell, engine, electric machine, and battery.
Distributed simulation environment developed in an hour. "It took us about an hour to move our simulations from a single processor to a distributed, 16-node cluster," explains Pagerit.
Simulation time reduced from two weeks to one day. "Using distributed computing, we went from running one set of simulations in two weeks to only one day," says Pagerit. "The speed increase was proportional to the number of processors that we used."
Simulation results validated using vehicle test data. "We have tested existing vehicles, including most of the new hybrids, so we can validate our simulation results against actual measured data," Pagerit says. "All the advanced hybrid vehicles that we have evaluated with PSAT have been accurate to within 5% of the actual fuel economy and battery state-of-charge measurements."
The powertrain design, analysis and simulation team at Southwest Research Institute helps clients develop solutions for engines, powertrains and components. Our experience includes mechanical design, mechanical analysis, and thermodynamic analyses of engine performance using computer aided engineering (CAE) tools such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA).
A multimode transmission combines several power-split modes and possibly several fixed gear modes, thanks to complex arrangements of planetary gearsets, clutches and electric motors. Coupled to a battery, it can be used in a highly flexible hybrid configuration, which is especially practical for larger cars. The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid is the first light-duty vehicle featuring such a system. This paper introduces the use of a high-level vehicle controller based on instantaneous optimization to select the most appropriate mode for minimizing fuel consumption under a broad range of vehicle operating conditions. The control uses partial optimization: the engine ON/OFF and the battery power demand regulating the battery state-of-charge are decided by a rule-based logic; the transmission mode as well as the operating points are chosen by an instantaneous optimization module that aims at minimizing the fuel consumption at each time step. The controller is then implemented in a Simulink/Stateflow controller that can be used in Argonne's PSAT (Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit), a forward-looking powertrain simulation toolkit with dynamic plant models. As a result, the controller described in this paper is realistically implementable on an actual vehicle. Simulation results show the mode use and describe the practical operations of the system.
Rattling noises and constant vibrations are not only irritating, but also stressful. Especially if you are exposed to them over a longer period of time, e.g. on long-distance journeys. Noise and vibrations therefore not only affect the driving pleasure and comfort of the passengers, but also their safety. At the same time, vehicle drivers want more and more power. This in turn means that higher loads make faster wear and acoustic problems more likely.
Various measures must be taken to increase the efficiency and lifetime of powertrains and individual components. Reducing friction and accurately predicting noise excitation and radiation are crucial.
Using elastic components and taking into account nonlinear contact points, such as plain bearings and piston-liner contact in internal combustion engines or tooth contact and roller bearings in gearboxes, EXCITE determines realistic excitations and vibrations. Thus, on the one hand, the strength and lifetime of components can be predicted with a high degree of certainty and, on the other hand, the exact vibrations and radiations of the component surfaces can be predicted for an accurate noise prediction.
Starting with simple modeling of geometry, using rigid bodies and linking the components with plain or roller bearings, gear pairs as well as rotational coupling elements such as couplings or splined shafts, a simulation model can be quickly built.
With the help of the integrated Component Modeler, sophisticated FE models can be seamlessly prepared and flexible components can be created. Fully integrated assemblies, e.g. for planetary gear sets or crank trains, offer an enormous simplification for the creation of complex calculation systems. The interaction of the components can be easily checked with the help of a kinematic calculation and animation. This is followed by the actual simulation. You can choose between fast analyses in the frequency domain or non-linear analyses in the time domain for detailed investigations.
EXCITE supports the modeling of components, subsystems and complete drive units with varying levels of detail. The software is tailored to the requirements of the analysis and ensures an optimal balance between simulation effort and accuracy.
Different gear stages including planetary gear sets as well as e-motor types (PMSM, SCIM, EESM) with controlling and rotor eccentricity can be dynamically mapped and calculated for e-axis systems. In addition to NVH analyses, influences of manufacturing tolerances can also be investigated and optimized with regard to durability and noise.
The influence of friction, lubrication and wear under dry and lubricated conditions is essential in many technological fields. With the help of EXCITE you can reduce friction, optimize wear and thus increase the durability of bearings and components and reduce energy consumption.
One of EXCITE's core competences is the calculation of structure-borne and airborne noise of powertrain units. Evaluation tools such as Operational Deflection Shape (ODS), Numerical Transfer Path Analysis (NTPA) and Modal Contribution Factors (MCF) give you answers to the causes and sources of excitation and vibration.
EXCITE Piston & Rings provides a reliable solution for 3D piston ring simulation. With the 3D rings created fully automatically by the ring modeler, the influence of ring deformation on blow-by, friction, wear and lubrication oil consumption can be analyzed. In addition, the bore deformation from an EXCITE piston-liner contact calculation can also be taken into account.
Increased demand to minimize cylinder distance for new twostroke, low-speed marine engine developments, including new engine structure concepts and design-to-cost approach, result in an increased need for EHD calculations of WinGD`s main bearings.
Download our white paper to discover how simulation can be applied to optimize key powertrain NVH attributes, extending classical IC engine NVH to modern powertrains including highly complex transmissions and electrified powertrains.
Legal constraints which impose ever stricter emission limits are forcing engine manufacturers to drastically reduce the sound emission of their products. In addition, increasing end customer expectations require a greater focus on the acoustic behaviour of an engine.
Electrified vehicles (EVs) are measured by their performance, range and cost. In addition, a compact powertrain design is desired, which has implications for thermal management.
The nearly silent operation of e-motors makes the vehicles quieter, but results in various noises and vibrations no longer being masked by the engine.
Because of their high efficiency and low emissions, fuel-cell vehicles are undergoing extensive research and development. When considering the introduction of advanced vehicles, engineers must perform a well-to-wheel (WTW) evaluation to determine the potential impact of a technology on carbon dioxide and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and to establish a basis that can be used to compare other propulsion technology and fuel choices. Several modeling tools developed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) were used to evaluate the overall environmental and fuel-saving impacts associated with an advanced powertrain configuration. The Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) transient vehicle simulation software was used for pump-to-wheel (PTW) analysis, and GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation) was used for well-to-pump (WTP) analysis. This paper assesses the impact of FreedomCAR vehicle goals on a WTW energy basis. We will demonstrate that, on the basis of near-term (2010) advanced propulsion technologies, fuel cell hybrid vehicles achieve higher fuel economy than their Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) counterparts. However, when the North American natural gas hydrogen pathway is used to produce hydrogen (the most likely lowest-cost source of hydrogen in the near term), diesel hybrids perform the best. To gain the full benefits of hydrogen technology, a more efficient pathway to produce hydrogen, such as renewable energy, should be considered.
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