Multiphysics simulation that simultaneously considers all physical aspects involved in an EV design is critical to achieving reduced time-to-market and cost.

With the world population expected to swell to 9.7 billion people by 2050, there will be an exponential increase in mobility. At the same time, governments and consumers are demanding changes due to the way mobility is currently impacting the environment. Electric vehicles – be it in land, water, or air – not only reduces the environmental impact but will also solve the issue of mobility. According to a report by the International Energy Agency, the number of electric cars on the road is expected to reach almost 10 million this year despite the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Three global trends have led to the focus on the development of advanced engineered electric systems today namely, the rise in demand for renewable energy, increase in electric mobility, and the emergence of the ‘micro-grid’. So, the growth in EVs is driven by technological improvements in powertrains and batteries, environmental regulation, and shifting consumer demand for greener vehicles.  This is just the beginning. This EV trend will continue as the cost of owning electric vehicles will continue to decline and eventually approach the cost of an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This is surely going to happen sometime before 2030. 

Getting efficient EV’s into the market is not child’s play.  

For engineers, going green means that apart from the design of the individual components including the motor, inverter, battery and the charging system, they must additionally consider the interplay between these parts and their effect on the entire system. Since each of these components mentioned involves complex Multiphysics, the design engineers are required to model the fluid flow, thermal fields, structural integrity and electromagnetic effects that drive component performance. 

While consumers demand ‘green’, they are unwilling to let go of the comfort factor. They will not drive a noisy car that is uncomfortable even if it is clean and green. There can also be no heat leaking from the battery or motor as it can create hot patches in the car’s cabin.  There is a lot of interactive physics involved here as optimizing each of the motors’ components does not necessarily guarantee the optimization of the entire system. 

Some of the e-mobility challenges are the cost, range and payload, performance, and safety. Batteries alone inflate the cost of electric vehicles by as much as $10,000 over their internal combustion engine competitors. Apart from the cost, range anxiety, speed of charging, and availability of charging infrastructure are also some of the leading concerns for vehicles. When it comes to performance, estimates suggest that current electric drivetrains can suffer 20% energy loss. Also, in order to capture the market, electric mobility must prove to be functionally safe and cyber secure. 

Engineers must improve performance, enhance efficiency, and reduce the cost of technologies used for generating, storing, and distributing electric energy at all scales. They are also expected to increase the energy efficiency of electric machines and devices to reduce global energy demand. There is also a need to optimize the size, weight, power, and cooling properties of both the systems that produce energy and the products that consume them. Reducing noise and vibration as new, more energy-efficient machines and motors are developed is also key. There is also a need to take a holistic, system-level design approach that integrates hardware and software control components to maximize overall system performance, with an eye toward energy efficiency. 

All this has to be done while ensuring the seamless integration and compatibility of all electromagnetic components to minimize interference and losses. 

Simulation is the Electrification Solution for Auto.

The electric mobility revolution has witnessed numerous technological advancements through simulation. This impact cannot be ignored. Thanks to simulation: 

• There is 50% reduction in overall electric vehicle development time. 
• 75% reduction in AC drive development time. 
• 12% improvement in power density and energy efficiency. 

This is why there is a need to change the “classic” component-focused development process in favor of a simulation-based system design workflow. Simulation can help engineers analyze performance from the component to the system level and make intelligent design trade-offs. Instead of designing and testing individual parts and then assembling them, the need of the hour is a holistic workflow that evaluates the Multiphysics performance of the entire system and accounts for dynamic interactions between components throughout the design process. With electric system initiatives breaking new ground, simulation can enable engineers to explore extremely innovative product concepts in a risk-free, low-cost virtual design space by minimizing the investment of significant time and money in physical prototypes and testing. Applying simulation at a very early stage through digital exploration, well before final product costs are locked in makes it even more worthwhile for automakers.

Courtesy: EM-motive

To explore real-world physics, simulation tools can transfer the results of one type of simulation (e.g., electromagnetic) and set them as boundary conditions for other simulations (e.g., mechanical, fluid, or thermal). EV is a complex system, consist of an e-motor, battery, power electronics, etc. Let’s take the example of an e-motor. The losses from electromagnetic (EM) analysis can be transferred for thermal analysis, the temperature can feedback to update material properties for electromagnetic analysis to calculate and update the EM loss information. This process goes on till the temperature value is converged and then converged temperature is transferred for structural analysis. This capability can assist in customization as well.  The e-motor designer can extract performance indicators like torque, speed, power, rotor inertia, etc. from a variety of design options and, with the help of a simple chart, offer its customers an easy-to-grasp comparative analysis of those options. Though we focus on traction motor, the above holds good even for battery and power electronics. 

Multiphysics simulation that simultaneously considers all physical aspects involved in an EV design is critical to achieving reduced time-to-market and cost. When coupled with Simulation tools and parametric high-performance computing (HPC) solutions, engineers can focus on engineering the design instead of engineering the simulation. 

With electrification poised to soar, engineering simulation is clearing the path!

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