MAHLE's New Development Process Helps Automakers to Meet New Environmental Requirements and Become More Cost-Efficient
Mahle Powertrain has presented a comprehensive
testing and development process that benefits automakers in reaching the best
possible powertrain configuration for a wide range of applications.
The
development process, which was created as an efficient solution in dealing with
issues related to changing emissions standards and wider usage of
environmentally-oriented technologies, is divided into 5 main stages:
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Mahle’s technical specialist has said that this
advanced car simulation concept has been designed for a long period of time
with the help of numerous cutting-edge tech solutions and methods, to deliver
RDE-tested powertrains to auto engineers much faster than before. Thanks to the
new approach applied by Mahle, now it becomes evident that proper Real Driving
Emissions (RDE) testing at the early stage of the development process is
critical to ensuring time- and cost-effective emissions compliance across all
specified RDE conditions.
The first stage makes it possible to specify
the main demands for operational characteristics of the powertrain and to
implement important changes in transmission optimization and hybrid control
even before physical hardware is ready. This stage includes a premature
estimation of RDE boundary conditions on the basis of 3 main factors:
operational characteristics of the car, ways of driving and test route details.
Mahle used sophisticated analysis methods to produce a test program to be realized
during the full engineering process. A wide range of digitized RDE routes are
applied to simulate the different traffic situations, road plans and terrain
configurations that are similar to the real-world environment.
Steady-state powertrain testing involves the
first-time powertrain hardware and is performed on a steady-state dyno where
the same set of parameters is used. Using cutting-edge Design-of-Experiments
approaches and automated test-bench operation, Mahle says that it helps to
reach performance and emissions-oriented goals.
When the powertrain hardware becomes more
advanced in its design, it is time to perform the unsteady-state powertrain
testing. At this stage, all drive cycle tests are simulated in accordance with
particular territory features and accurate monitoring of emissions. Further
comparison and analysis of data is performed at this stage to get more vital
info on the powertrain operability under real-life conditions, and check powertrain
performance before car hardware is ready.
At the next stage (RDE testing), the tested vehicle operates under the influence of different atmospheric and temperature conditions in a precisely controlled, repeatable environment. It really helps to accurately estimate capacities of the powertrain and characteristics of the whole car under the most severe of actual-use conditions, ensuring that the powertrain complies with all regulations on harmful emissions.
As the final stage, during the real time test-drive the tested vehicle is equipped with Mahle’s special system known as PEMS, which keeps track of tail-pipe emissions.
