Simulation-Based Vehicle Thermal Management System - Concept and Methodology

The stricter fuel consumption and emission regulations put the worldwide carmakers and suppliers under pressure to develop more efficient thermal management systems. High engine efficiency, increased comfort requirements, and stringent emission regulations are examples of the political and public conflicting requirements. The coolant system of current vehicles is already limited on performance due to package and styling constraints. Therefore, any future incremental demands on the coolant system will need to be managed effectively so as to remain within these constraints. Simulation-based design and virtual prototyping can insure greater product performance and quality of both the time and cost required by traditional build-and-test approach for the development of the vehicle thermal management process and the development process in general.

The objective of this work is the integration of all partial thermal systems: gas circuit, cooling circuit, engine oil circuit, engine structure, underhood flow, and passenger compartment. A vehicle simulation program is used to determine the operating, load conditions of the vehicle, and steer the data exchange between the different software modules used to simulate the previously mentioned vehicle partial thermal systems.