Modelling of warming up and cooling down of hybrid vehicle components as an effect of surrounding air flows.
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Volvo Personvagnar Aktiebolag - Avd 91700 Environment & Fluid Dynamics Centre |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 310 000 |
| Project duration | August 2016 - December 2017 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Electronics, software and communication - FFI |
| End-of-project report | 2016-02487.pdf(pdf, 239 kB) (In Swedish) |
Purpose and goal
The goal of this study was to create a simulation model that takes the thermal behaviour of electrical components in a hybrid electric vehicle into account. It should comprise the effect of the ambient temperature as well as the internal thermal losses that influence surface temperatures and heat pick-up of the coolant. To validate the model, multiple test cases were measured on an XC60 PHEV. The comparison of the simulation with the test results showed satisfactory behaviour in most points.
Expected results and effects
The developed model shows good agreement with measured temperatures on the component surface. Even though the first results were promising, further development will be necessary to capture more effects and more components. With this further development, the model will facilitate future virtual development of electrified vehicles and further reduce the amount of prototypes and needed tests.
Planned approach and implementation
The model was built on the base of a Volvo XC60 PHEV production car, but could easily be applied to any other electrified car. The car was tested under different driving conditions in the VCC climate wind tunnel, to provide boundary conditions and validation data for the numerical model. The numerical model was set-up in the commercial CFD software StarCCM+.