The purpose of the study is to develop a flexible simulation tool that allows coupling the 1-D simulation of the engine with the dynamic simulation of the whole vehicle on which the engine is installed, in order to predict vehicle operating conditions and exhaust emissions during an imposed mission profile.
In fact 1-D engine simulation can supply information on engine performance but not on vehicle performance, that strongly depends on the vehicle itself. Therefore vehicle performance simulation needs an integrated engine-vehicle approach.
The dynamic model of the vehicle (a scooter with CVT transmission) is built up in Matlab-Simulink while the engine model is realized by means of a 1-D commercial code (WAVE, Ricardo Software).
In particular, the Urban Driving Cycle (UDC) of the European Community ECE-40 homologation test (established by the EL) directive 2002/51/CE) for a scooter with CVT transmission and centrifugal clutch is the aim of the simulation activity. The virtual approach allows reducing the number of experimental tests that have to be performed in order to achieve results both in terms of pollutant emissions and global performance.
The model results are then compared with the experimental results coming from the real vehicle placed on the roller test bench.