Engineer next-generation eMobility with confidence - eMobility By Yijun Fan, Luca Castignani and Dan Marinac, MSC Software
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eMobility
Engineer next-generation
eMobility with confidence
By Yijun Fan, Luca Castignani and Dan Marinac, MSC Software
ePowertrain efficiency study
78 | Engineering Reality Magazine
Comprehensive Hexagon Solutions for EV
Sales of electric vehicle jumped has become modern, fast, beautiful,
30 percent globally in 2020, and is connected, advanced, quiet, and
projected to grow by 70 percent by everything we ever wanted from
2021 according to HIS Markit forecasts. a next-generation automobile. We
Electrification is the single largest crave for something that’s future-
disruptor that has occurred to the proof, and we want to invest in
automotive industry in decades. a vehicle that’s not going to be
outdated in 10 years from now.
The concept of “electric vehicle” has
existed for more than a century, since And that is a major cause for the mass
William Morrison from Iowa created market adoption of electric vehicles
the first successful electric vehicle in in recent years – the products have
the US around 1896. But why hasn’t become much better!
EV become popular until the last
few years? Triggering this largest transformation
in decades, almost all of the major
Of course, environmental concerns automotive manufacturers are
are fuelling vehicle electrification; embarking on the transition to EV
switching from gasoline to electricity manufacturing. They are adopting new
is a vital solution for reducing or replacing their existing processes,
emissions to avoid the worst impacts technologies, and tools for the next-
of climate change. generation vehicle design.
But more importantly, as consumers, Besides the traditional design and
we have experience first-hand of engineering considerations from an
how Tesla and a few other leaders ICE vehicle, developing an electric
have revolutionised the electric vehicle presents its own unique
vehicle. It’s not old, clunky, weird, challenges and requires a new set
ugly, impractical anymore, instead, it of solutions.
Volume XIII - Summer 2021 | mscsoftware.com | 79
Cabin Noise Simulation
ePowertrain design the rapidly-growing EV market. certain extent, these other noises are
less tolerable with the ever-increasing
More and more consumers are To develop the optimal ePowertrain standard of electric vehicle buyers.
growing a true passion for EV faster, Hexagon provides not only the
because it’s quiet and powerful, and technologies in terms of software and To provide drivers and passengers a
that distinctive signature results tools, but also the expertise for designing comfortable driving/riding experience,
from a key differentiator between world-class ePowertrain systems. it’s crucial to carefully analyse and
electric vehicles and traditional optimise EV’s interior acoustic
vehicles: Electric Powertrain vs From solving engineering issues like environment, especially early in the
ICE Powertrain. reducing gear whine noise, improving design stage.
drivetrain efficiency, enhancing electric
In order to design a world-class motor cooling, all the way to delivering In order to accurately predict those
ePowertrain, engineers have a turnkey ePowertrain designs to EV noises, engineers typically need to apply
number of issues to tackle, from the start-ups, Hexagon offers the most multi-physics CAE solutions to study the
architecture, performance, durability, comprehensive ePowertrain solutions complex nature of those challenges.
NVH all the way to efficiency. in the industry for you to develop world-
leading electric vehicles. For example, to properly capture
For example: Do I have the optimal the eMotor or transmission noise,
combination of motor and drivetrain? Cabin noise acoustics needs to be coupled with
How long will my ePowertrain operate electro-magnetics, system dynamics
at high RPM without fail? Can I hear With the absence of an internal and/or structural analysis to figure out
the motor noise or gear whine? combustion engine, electric vehicles the vibration sources and how noise
How can I extend vehicle range by are expected to be very quiet by is being generated and propagated
increasing ePowertrain efficiency? consumers. However, other noise inside the cabin.
sources which were previously
All those engineering problems need covered by the engine noise suddenly Likewise, to simulate wind noise, the
to be properly addressed before become a lot more prominent in an aerodynamic excitation applied to the
engineers can come up with a best-in- electric vehicle, such as road/tire side windows need to be simulated
class ePowertrain design that fits the noise, wind noise, gear whine, or even with CFD software before the acoustic
needs from consumers, which provides the high-pitch, high-frequency noise performance of the window/glass
OEMs with competitive advantages in coming from the electric motor. To a vibration can be predicted.
80 | Engineering Reality Magazine
Torque vectoring controls evaluation
Hexagon provides not only best- development requires interactions achieved simply through electronically
in-class point CAE solutions in the between additional integrated controlling the power distribution
industry, but also the best-in-class sub-systems (battery pack, power between the two motors, which can be
multi-physics and co-simulation electronics, electric drive, etc.) to be done on a millisecond scale. And the
technologies that engineers can rely understood and optimised. new torque vectoring controllers need
on to tackle the complicated acoustics to be studied and evaluated with the
challenges and drastically reduce the With the ePowertrain, many control EV mechanism.
overall EV cabin noise. strategies also need to be re-created
or re-designed. For example, torque In order to improve the overall vehicle
Vehicle dynamics vectoring has been used on traditional dynamics of electric vehicles, engineers
ICE vehicles to distribute torque would run co-simulation between
While the shift to electric is primarily among four wheels to improve the the full vehicle MBD models and the
motivated by environmental and vehicle traction during acceleration 1D controller models, to study and
sustainability concerns, it opens up or steering on a wet surface. With optimise various control algorithms
new challenges for vehicle dynamics electric motors, torque vectoring early on in the design cycle, and avoid
optimisation. Electric vehicle between front and rear axles can be expensive, late design changes.
Lightweighting engineers can capture the correct the optimal temperature range of
local anisotropic stiffness and the battery pack? How do I predict
For electric vehicles, lightweighting damping behaviours depending structural integrity for new materials
is not optional - it’s mission-critical. on the frequency and the local under severe loads? How do I ensure
Reducing vehicle mass increases the fibre orientations. Incorporating battery safety when it hits obstacles
EV range and improves the vehicle those materials’ behaviours into on the ground?
performance, which greatly contribute the NVH and durability models
to faster EV adoption. greatly enhances the accuracy and To effectively predict and resolve all
reliability of the simulation results, those challenges, engineers again
The most common way of removing and ensures that reducing vehicle need to not only rely on the point
mass without compromising design weight doesn’t come at a cost of physics solutions, like CFD, Structural
is by introducing new materials. performance degradation. FEA, Fatigue, MBD, Materials, but also
Application of composites material integrate multiple physics together to
is essential for weight reduction, but Battery design address the fundamental issues in a
such material’s behaviours are highly more accurate way.
nonlinear and anisotropic, and the As the most expensive and heaviest
different manufacturing processes component of an electric vehicle, the For example, to study the battery
influence the final part’s performance battery makes up for about 30% of the frame impact from hitting an obstacle
(e.g. NVH, Durability) in different ways. total vehicle cost, and can weigh up (like a stone) underneath, engineers
to 600 kilograms. It is recognised as need to consider not only the non-
For example, one of the options to the most important component of an linear contact and permanent
lightweight the battery pack is to use EV because it determines the crucial deformation on the frame itself, but
fibre-reinforced polymers to replace factors such as the range, cost, safety, also how the vehicle suspension
metals for the battery tray. While this recharging and so on. system is going to react to the impact,
certainly reduces the overall weight of which may affect the results of the
the battery, we also understand that Automotive engineers face a number battery damage. Without the holistic
using new materials may often come of design challenges when it comes to understanding for the full system
with some level of degradation in NVH battery on different aspects such as behaviour or the detailed contact
or Durability performance. thermal, material, safety and durability. model, the simulation doesn’t provide
a reliable way to predict the actual
With Hexagon’s industry-leading For example: How do I design the event, which could lead to either
materials simulation software, cooling or heating system to assure failure or overdesign.
Battery thermal management
82 | Engineering Reality Magazine
Battery frame welding simulation
Battery manufacturing To help OEMs take total control of We are proud to say that Hexagon’s
the entire product quality lifecycle, solutions have been trusted by not
Quality needs to be integrated into Hexagon has been investing heavily only the current global top 25 auto
every aspect of the battery system, into both software and hardware OEMs, but also every recognisable
from battery cell, battery module, technologies to connect the dots electric vehicle company and some
battery tray to battery assembly, with between engineering, manufacturing of the major battery suppliers in
the highest standards. and quality control. the world. Over 70% of the electric
vehicles on the market have been
On a high-volume production line, With the industry-leading CAD-CAM- enhanced with the help of Hexagon
battery welding is a process with a CAE software and the most advanced tools and services over the past
narrow time window for assembly metrology technologies for both 15 years.
and inspection. There are over 3,500 stationary and portable applications,
cylindrical battery cells in a typical Hexagon not only provides the point We aim to offer a new set of smart
design, which means there are solutions, but also understands how to manufacturing technologies for
over 10,000 welds in the assembly. integrate each stage of the workflow engineers, designers and OEMs,
Even with a 99% weld success rate, together to help OEMs shorten design-to- blending our experience in automotive
there will be 100 weld failures that production times and improve the overall design and engineering, production
compromise range and safety. It is of product quality while lowing the cost. and metrology to help you make the
paramount importance that each weld journey toward 100%EV faster and
is carefully studied and tested. 100% of vehicles in the world more cost-effective.
need to be electric
To achieve the highest level of quality,
relying only on inspection itself is not EVs are predicted to represent a third
enough. One of the biggest challenges of the automotive market by 2025
that OEMs face is how to engineer and 51% by 2030. But we believe the Download our eMobility eBook to learn
quality into the battery design and automotive industry can make this more: www.mscsoftware.com/eMobility/
the manufacturing processes in the shift even faster, and we want to eBook
first place. support your efforts to do so.
Volume XIII - Summer 2021 | mscsoftware.com | 83
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