Model based component co-optimization and scalability of virtual testing for electric drivetrain vehicle
Authors:   Applus IDIADA, SPAIN, Arroyos Marina Roche , Araujo Javier Arturo Corea ,   Applus IDIADA, SPAIN, Sabria Didac ,   Applus IDIADA, SPAIN, Padmaji Vinayak ,   Applus IDIADA, INDIA, Cano Pablo ,   Applus IDIADA, SPAIN, Garmier Patrice ,   Applus IDIADA, FRANCE
Published: April 2022

"Within the automotive product development cycle virtual and heterogeneous testing is becoming increasingly established through component, module and vehicle-level simulation. Though a number of standards in this field have been established, models are still mostly created in a fragmented manner: using domain-specific tools to create, manage and execute simulations without standardization of the content of the functional interfaces (FMI does only standardize the format) and limited scalability. This fragmentation leads to a lot of redundant effort as models of the same component or system are re-created several times. HIFI-ELEMENTS project addressed this fragmentation through two main mechanisms: Firstly, developing, validating and publishing a recommendation for standardization of model interfaces for common e-drive components (e-machine, inverter, battery, DC/DC converter, thermal management) and implementation of compliant versions of existing models. Secondly, implementing a seamless workflow linking extended versions of existing tools with effort-saving automated methods for model parameterization and test case generation. This seamless integration will substantially increase the number of integrations and test cases that can be early validated through simulation, leading to optimized efficiency designs and development effort reduction. The standardization also guarantees scalability among fidelity levels, from concept design to XiL through detailed modelling. In this paper we present the results of the Use Case C: Component co-optimization. The purpose of use cases is the demonstration of the advantages of the standardized models and workflow industry relevant scenarios. The work content performed in the use case is very extensive and multidisciplinary. In the first step, the high fidelity models from the expert components developers were validated independently with automated testing tools and later integrated to create a complete vehicle architecture integration. The standardization permitted to seamlessly test several component variants developed within the project for the same architecture, including tens of motor models with different technologies, inverters and high voltage converters with different IGBT technology and various battery packs. This possibility was exploited through co-optimization with multi objective Genetic Algorithm, permitting to select the optimal component combination, powertrain architecture (with and without high voltage DCDC converter) and components parametrization considering the trade-off of consumption and performances. The optimized and baseline variants were used to demonstrate the scalability of the models to different simulation objectives. The model was co-simulated with a traffic simulation environment in order to evaluate the impact of eco-driving recommendation algorithms in a realistic driving situation. The optimized solution was also validated against a wide database of driving conditions including real driving cycles, performance and vehicle dynamics. Finally, the integrated models were seamlessly transferred to real time simulation platform for Model-in-the-Loop testing with a simulated 3D environment aimed at ADAS testing. Real-time capability demonstrates that next steps such as Driver-in-the-Loop and Hardware-in-the loop can be achieved smoothly. The extensive simulation activities performed in this use case demonstrate the benefits of the standard in models exchangeability and effort reduction in model based development. This project received funding from the European Union’s (EU) Horizon 2020 Research and innovation program under grant agreement N 769935."