Integrated modelling for vehicles thermal energy management

Intelligent thermal and energy management can help deliver optimized engineering solutions for next-generation low-carbon vehicles, mitigating environmental pollution and minimising real-world energy consumption to deliver better fuel economy and electric range as well as drive comfort. Different application specific modelling environments are used in modern vehicle developments across the vehicle development cycle. In this paper, a holistic approach towards assessment of thermal and fluid interactions within an automobile was taken, to simulate the performance, heat flux, thermodynamic and energy efficiency of the vehicle system. The overall system consists of vehicle propulsion system, cabin climate system, cooling system, electrical system, chassis and control systems. The powertrain subsystem models were developed to evaluate friction losses, fuel consumption, emissions, as well as battery utilization over legislative drive cycles. The heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) and cabin models were developed to assess additional fuel consumption and energy optimization from cabin thermal comfort. A co-simulation platform is developed and simulated in this paper for subsequent thermal control strategy development. This paper discusses the model development and software integration of different physical domains. The developed integrated virtual model provides a tool for system level design and analysis and evaluation of fuel consumption and emissions.