Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - February 2023 - 14

VIRTUAL
POWERTRAIN
DEVELOPMENT
Simulation is critical for
efficient product development,
but proper tool selection and
efficient data management are
keys to success.
by Ryan Gehm
Advanced simulation tools will benefit development of
hydrogen combustion engines such as Cummins' X15H,
which is expected to be production-ready in 2027.
P
owertrain engineers have various tools at their disposal to develop
new technologies - empirical modeling, component
simulation, multi-system environments and physical testing
chief among them. Determining which to employ often involves
balancing tradeoffs between key criteria: speed, accuracy,
flexibility, insight and repeatability.
" We've got all these different techniques. How do we change the
paradigm? How do we make it better, so we aren't having to cope
with these different tradeoffs to the same extent? " asked Thomas
Howell, segment lead, conventional powertrain at AVL in the U.S.,
during an SAE COMVEC 2022 session.
AVL attempts to " cross-fertilize " the best approaches of hardware
testing and the virtual simulation environment. One approach the company
uses to minimize tradeoffs is Engineering Enhanced Models - specifically
its AVL Cruise M model for multidisciplinary system simulation.
" Typically, we will have a very detailed series of models, and one of
them is combustion [in diesel engines]. The combustion model is
time-consuming, and it's difficult to get the simulation to work, "
Howell explained. " So how can we make this faster? One of the approaches
that we do is take the combustion model out and replace it
with an empirical neural net model so that we can leverage that within
the multi-system domain and get a faster solution. "
AVL leverages data amassed from testing engines over the course
of decades. " We've got a lot of data, " Howell said. " We can use the
data we've captured from all our past testing to really get an accurate
model. "
AVL can utilize this model for its hardware-in-the-loop environment.
" Now we have a model which we've got great confidence in, it
runs in real time, so we can run it against the actual controllers and
can start doing calibration early on, " Howell said, using the example of
14 February 2023
an assessment of OBD (on-board diagnostics) monitors.
" We can do the calibration on OBD monitors when
we identify, why is a certain monitor coming up when
it shouldn't be flagging under these environments? " he
said. " We can adjust the calibration or even adjust the
software very early on in the product cycle so that we
don't have the delays associated with that later on. "
Howell stressed that simulation is critical for efficient
product development - but so too is proper tool
selection. " We utilize it extensively for our design investigations
to ensure that we have got the hardware
decisions correct - but we need to ensure that the
selection of the tool is correct, " he said. " It is key from
a product-success standpoint that we understand the
limitations of the tools. "
Cummins also recognizes the importance of multidisciplinary
simulation. Bob Tickel, director of multidisciplinary
simulation within research and technology at
Cummins, referenced the modeFrontier design optimization
platform, developed by Italian software company
Esteco SpA, as an example during his 2022
COMVEC presentation.
" How do I pull all these different models together
along with total cost of ownership (TCO), so when we
sit down and meet with our customers we can say,
what is it you're looking for? " Tickel said. " Is it TCO? Is
it initial cost? Reliability? Durability? We can walk
through all those options and help them make decisions,
because a single mine site might have multiple
powertrains in their fleet, depending on the need. "
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
CUMMINS; BACKGROUND BY LENKA_X/SHUTTERTOCK.COM
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - February 2023

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