development Calculation and Simulation

The Virtual Vehicle

transient Simulation in the diesel
engine development process
Concerning the topic “Motor Process Simulation in Realtime – Basics and Application Possibilities”, a dissertation
was worked out at the Technische Universität Berlin, which received the “Hermann Appel Preis 2008” in the area
powertrain development. This paper reports about the continuation of the scientific work in the current activities
of modelling and simulation at IAV GmbH: Straight forward high-fidelity system simulation delivers solutions from
module concept evaluation up to real-time application for controls testing ahead of the experiment on the engine
dyno or vehicle.

26 mtZ 12I2009 volume 70

 1 Introduction The Authors

IAV uses a modelling software environ-

ment for the advanced diesel develop- Dr.-Ing.
ment. The environment consists of com- Ingo Friedrich
mercial and in-house developed hard- and is team manager Ad­
software as well as model libraries in or- vanced diesel engines
der to handle the growing complexity. The in the business area
library is intensely supported by measure- powertrain mecha­
ment data sources from engine and mod- tronics at IAv GmbH in
ule test benches as well as by the controls Berlin (Germany).
development departments, Figure 1. The
simulation activities are embedded in the
advanced development infrastructure Dr.-Ing. Ralf
which consists of single cylinder and full- Buchwald
size engine test benches as well as vehicle is technical consultant
and component test benches. thermodynamics Ad­
As in reality a virtual test cycle has to vanced diesel engines
consider all effects that are emission rele- in the business area
vant as cold start (friction, warm-up) in- powertrain mecha­
cluding the appropriate control strate- tronics at IAv GmbH in
gies. The modelling platform is flexible Berlin (Germany).
concerning degree of detail, calculation
speed and connectivity. The various test
data sources in conjunction with the Dr.-Ing.
controls development make a fast and ef- Eckhard Stölting
ficient simulation of a test cycle possible. is team manager diesel
Typical overall vehicle simulation stud- engine Control design
ies focus on: in the business area
– exhaust raw emission reduction and ex- powertrain mecha­
haust gas aftertreatment system layout tronics at IAv GmbH in
– turbocharger (TC) matching in con- Gifhorn (Germany).
junction with different exhaust gas
recirculation (EGR) systems [1]
– examination of energy flow and en- Dipl.-Ing.
ergy recuperation systems [2]. Ansgar Sommer
is head of department
Advanced diesel
engines in the busi­
ness area powertrain
mechatronics at IAv
GmbH in Berlin
(Germany).

Figure 1: R&D environment supporting modelling and simulation

mtZ 12I2009 volume 70 27

development
Figure 2: Possible degrees of detail exemplary for five vehicle subsystems
Prerequisites here are a physics-based
plant model and an appropriate model pa-
rameterisation as well as the parameteri-
sation of the necessary controls model.
2 Identification of Software Tools
The analysis of the overall vehicle behav-
iour in conjunction with a high level of
detail of single components causes unac-
ceptable calculation times. Fast calculat-
ing models allow a high number of pa-
rameter variations in a limited time
frame. Applications for the validation of
ECU functionalities in a software in the
loop (SiL) or hardware in the loop (HiL)
environment have even higher demands
on calculation speed up to real-time cap­
Figure 3: Typical segmentation into subsystems for an overall vehicle simulation
28 MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70
Calculation and Simulation
ability for the latter. Today physics based
models replace more and more map-
based models for these applications be-
cause of their superiority in terms of
mapping transient behaviour or causal
relationships between in- and outputs.
Increasing calculation power of today’s
CPUs allows a fast execution of rather de-
tailed engine models [3].
For a flexible simulation of the com-
bustion engine in the overall vehicle en-
vironment in terms of degree of detail,
calculation performance and connectiv-
ity a couple of questions concerning
model depth and choice of simulation
tools have to be answered. One possible
way of model classification can be done
with a level of abstraction. Early stages
of engine development demand a high
degree of abstraction. Figure 2 assigns a
model type for different vehicle subsys-
tems to a degree of abstraction with one
example of application. The degree of
detail can individually be chosen for
each subsystem depending on the
project definition, the available model-
ling data resources and the calculation
time constraint. In that way the opti-
mum simu­lation quality and efficiency
can be reached. For example the com-
bustion engine can be simulated in less
than real-time using a 0D-gas exchange
calculation combined with a mean-
value model-based on an artificial neu-
ral network for the in-cylinder process.
If the energy and heat management
simulation is the main scope, a high de-
gree of detail can be chosen here – for
example for subsystem specific concept
or parametric studies – at minimised
overall calculation time.
Figure 3 shows an exemplary segmen-
tation into subsystems and the appropri-
ate software tool in the chosen tool chain
for an overall vehicle simulation. The
software tools are linked together via the
vehicle simulation software VeLoDyn (Ve-
hicle Longitudinal Dynamics) based on
Matlab/Simulink which serves as integra-
tion platform since most of today’s off-
the-shelf tools offer this interface. Fur-
thermore Matlab/Simulink is the ade-
quate software for controls development
and for compiling hardware-independ-
ent code with the real-time workshop.
Depending on the application GT-
­Power or Themos is used for the engine
process, Dymola/Modelica for energy
management, cooling system, powertrain
and electric system and AxiSuite or KAT-
Sim [4] for exhaust gas aftertreatment.
3 Engine Modelling
Engine modelling mainly focuses on the
two following points:
– the gas exchange including the turbo/
supercharging and EGR system
– the combustion process with energy
flow analysis and engine out emission
evaluation.
Both should be calculated with high ac-
curacy for transient operation – ideally in
real-time and three dimensional. Howev-
er three-dimensional overall engine mod-
elling is still far away from reasonable
calculation time for overall vehicle simu-
lation making a reduction of the degree
of detail unavoidable. GT-Power is used
here for engine modelling supplemented
by zero-dimensional single and two-zone
combustion and exhaust emission calcu-
lation models developed and experimen-
tally validated in-house. These models are
also used for online as well as for real-
time cylinder pressure data analysis on
the test bench and moreover for control
algorithm development or for real-time
combustion model development.
Figure 4 shows the environment being
used in typical projects. The single cylin-
der engine delivers engine data at an early
stage of development to IAV’s OpenTDA Figure 4: Modelling process
for detailed combustion analysis. The re-
sults of the calculation and the compo-
nent test bench data (that means turbo-
charger, heat exchanger, fuel injector etc.) ured data the engine simulation quality and control bus connections. The main
serve as input parameters for the GT-Pow- evolves step by step to a high level con- parts are drive train (including engine,
er engine and the AxiSuite exhaust gas cerning precision, reusability and calcu- clutch and transmission), vehicle, driver
aftertreatment model with heat release lation time. On this basis of system un- and road profile supplemented by vehicle
curves, exhaust emission data, valve dis- derstanding the extrapolation of the en- and control models (SoftECU). Within
charge coefficients etc. After model ad- gine behaviour can be extended. For an this system each submodel can be re-
justment and verification the virtual full- overall vehicle simulation vehicle, driv- placed by another software tool via its
size engine with exhaust gas aftertreat- er, power train and auxiliary systems Matlab simulation interface. Other fea-
ment model is ready for performing pa- have to be modelled with adequate pre- tures are the options to compile a real-
rameter variations or concept studies. cision, too. time capable vehicle model with Matlab’s
For the development and calibration real-time workshop and/or to transfer the
of advanced control functions the “Mod- vehicle model to the engine test bench
ular Prototype Engine Controller” (IAV- 4 Vehicle and for emulating different drive cycles by
MPEC) [5] is used. It can be run in rapid- Auxiliary Systems Modelling controlling engine torque and speed with
prototyping or full-path mode. Its com- different parameter sets for gear ratios or
ponents are: The graphical user interface shown in gear shift strategies in order to optimize
– TRA (Thermodynamic Real-Time Anal- Figure 5 represents the modular architec- fuel consumption and emissions.
ysis) for thermodynamic cylinder- ture of the integration platform VeLoDyn The aim of the SoftECU shown in
pressure analysis with its basic submodels and the signal ­Figure 6 is not to copy the functionality of
– MBCAP (Model-based Controlled Air
Path) for the transient TC and EGR sys-
tem control
– FI2RE (Flexible Injection and Ignition
for Rapid Engineering) for all types of
ignition and fuel injection system
control
– AC3 (Advanced Closed Loop Combus-
tion Control)
– HyWaCoS (Model-based Injection Con-
trol)
– Model-based SCR control.
To use synergetic effects IAV-MPEC is
strongly linked to the IAV simulation
tools TR-Sim (Thermodynamic Real-Time
Simulation) and Themos (by IAV and
­Tesis) for combustion process simula-
tion. Through the repeated interchange
and comparison of simulated and meas- Figure 5: Modular structure of the Matlab-based integration tool VeLoDyn

MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70 29

development
Figure 6: SoftECU structure
a real ECU or to display prototype func-
tions, but rather to control all virtual ac-
tuators as fuel injectors, VTG, EGR valves,
intake throttle, VVA etc. during transient
simulation in an optimal way, using all
the information available from the simu-
lation model. In order to obtain variables
of interest as for example oxygen amount
and peak pressure in the cylinder, EGR
mass flow, or DPF loading the real ECU
code has complex observers implemented
since this information can not be meas-
ured directly with sensors. Since the
SoftECU has access to all this information
directly, the complexity of the SoftECU is
rather small in comparison to the real
world ECU or even prototype functions.
5 Vehicle Model for Evaluating
Euro-6 Diesel Car Concepts
In the following example NOx tailpipe
emission and fuel consumption for a Die-
sel-powered vehicle in the NEDC are com-
puted and optimized. The target vari­
ables are to be optimised with:
– engine-based measures (single and
two-stage turbo charging combined
with high/low pressure EGR, match-
ing and warm-up optimisation) and
– emission aftertreatment measures
(matching, calibration and control of
the DeNOx (SCR) and oxidation cata-
lyst system)
in order to find the optimal solution for
the overall system.
In this case offline computation of the
type described in Figure 7 can be seen as
30 MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70
Calculation and Simulation
the state-of-the-art methodology: The en-
gine variations are simulated offline at
steady-state operating points in the repre-
sentative map area of the driving-cycle.
The scope is the simulation of the input
variables for the exhaust gas aftertreat-
ment system: exhaust temperature and
mass flow as well as exhaust gas composi-
tion, particularly NOx. Here, NOx raw
emission is computed using a semi-em-
pirical model based on measured data.
The resulting maps are implemented in
VeLoDyn in order to perform the driving-
cycle simulation in conjunction with the
Dymola model for the parallel comput-
ing of the transient engine warm-up
process, including its gas-exchange com-
ponents. The resulting time-based pro-
files for exhaust gas temperature, mass
flow and gas composition downstream of
Figure 7: Methodology for serial simulation of tailpipe exhaust emission in the driving cycle
using GT-Power, VeLoDyn, Dymola and AxiSuite
the turbine now serve as input for the Ax-
iSuite model which computes the ther-
modynamics and reaction kinetics in the
exhaust gas aftertreatment system with
differing degree of detail. The AxiSuite
results include the time-based curves for
gas temperatures at relevant positions in
the exhaust system as well as for NH3 and
NOx mass flow. In an iterative process the
GT-Power, VeLoDyn and AxiSuite model
parameters have to be recalibrated until
the optimal solution for engine, gear box
and catalytic system is found.
Above the offline method there is the
option of running all involved software
tools synchronous in an adequate step
size. This online simulation offers the ad-
vantage that optimization procedures
concerning engine parameters and after-
treatment design parameters can be
done during runtime. The realisation of
an online simulation environment using
the named software tools requires:
– an adequate selection of the degree of
model detail
– a subsystem specific choice of solver
step size in order to secure numeric
stability
– a feedback control concept.
The control concept is implemented in
the SoftECU described before.
Figure 8 shows the simulation result
for turbine outlet temperature, NOx con-
version rate as well as urea and fuel con-
sumption in the NEDC for the single- and
two-stage TC engine. The latter is matched
to a 20 % higher rated power compared
to the single-stage engine both aiming at
the same exhaust emission and fuel con-
sumption level. For comparability the
configuration of the exhaust gas after-
treatment system is kept identical.
Immediately apparent in the case of
the two-stage turbocharger system is the
less steep temperature rise and the sig-
nificantly lower temperature level down-
stream of the turbine, resulting in less
favourable conditions for the downstream
exhaust gas aftertreatment components.
The two-stage turbocharger system emits
a significantly higher level of NOx be-
cause of a much lower SCR conversion
rate (65 % for single-stage, 39 % for two-
stage) which doesn’t meet the develop-
ment aim of 70 % of the Euro 6 level any-
more. Fuel consumption for the single-
stage turbocharger system is also about
8 % lower. Already at the simulation
stage, the altogether lower level of NOx
conversion, particularly with the two-
stage turbocharger, demonstrates the
problem of optimising the layout of the
EGR-, turbocharger- and SCR system. This
is because of the relatively low exhaust
gas temperature level throughout the
test cycle. Further optimisation is neces-
sary here, for example by adapting en-
gine calibration with the aim of shorten-
ing the light-off phase and achieving a
higher exhaust gas temperature.
Figure 9 depicts the simulation result
for engine heat-up acceleration by means
of a retarded start of fuel injection, a de-
activation of the piston cooling and a
post injection in order to raise engine-
out gas temperature in the first 180 s of
the test cycle. However, these measures
Figure 9: Simulation results – measures for system heat-up of exhaust-gas aftertreatment
Figure 8: Simulation results – comparison of turbine outlet temperatures for single and dual
stage turbo charging
lead to a higher fuel consumption, which
means that for this application the use
of engine-based improvement measures
must be weighted against improvement
measures on the exhaust gas aftertreat-
ment side.
6 Model-based Controls
Algorithm Development Process
The development of automotive control
algorithms is done according to the V-
process, Figure 10. In the first step a con-
cept has to be set up followed by the speci-
fication and finally the realisation and
implementation respectively. In the right
branch the implementation will be inte-
grated into the overall system followed by
the test against the specified target values
from the left branch. The final calibration
brings out whether the process can be
verified. While working through the V-
process complexity grows due to the
steadily increasing degree of detail. If an
error has been made at the beginning and
has been taken all the way through the
process, its localisation and correction re-
quires a large amount of time.
For the purpose of early detection of
errors simulation is advantageous. Phys-
ics based models are well suited for the
concept phase, since they are able to rep-
resent the basic geometric attributes for
an at least rough study of the system’s
characteristics. Data driven black-box
models mostly can’t be used in that early
phase because generally no data source
is yet available. The developed models
can also be used for studying system be-
haviour, which is of great importance for
the definition of advanced solutions.
The engine model from the concept
phase is also used in the specification
phase for the layout of the control algo-
rithms. This is done by continuous tests
under pre-specified conditions against
the engine model (MiL). In the phase of
code generation the graphics-based speci­
fication of the software will be ported to a
basic computer language, for example C-
code. Errors that may occur during this
MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70 31
development
Figure 10: Controls algorithm development process
transformation will be corrected by itera-
tive tests in short loops (SiL). In that phase
the model based development is unique
by making a testing against the reference
test cases from the specification phase
possible.
When the integration phase is reached
it can be assured that the modules fits the
specification due to the MiL and HiL tests.
Accordingly the tests in the integration
phase can be focused on the correct inter-
action between the modules. A stimu­lus
and monitoring of the modules can only
be done via the I/O interface of the ECU.
Therefore the ECU is driven in combina-
tion with the engine model (HiL). For these
tests the calibration from the specification
phase as well as those test cases that are
related to the overall system can be used.
Concerning the calibration phase mod-
el-based development not only provides a
higher degree of maturity but also a basic
system calibration ready for the detailed
optimisation. Through this the time to sys-
tem launch can be remarkably shortened.
Although model-based system develop-
ment shows significant advantages it is
not (yet) completely accepted. The main
obstacle is seen in the effort necessary to
built and parameterize a suitable engine
model. Providing the parameter set of an
existing model combination from the en-
gine and aftertreatment concept or de-
sign phase (GT-Power and Axi­Suite) to a
physics based real-time capable engine
32 MTZ 12I2009 Volume 70
Calculation and Simulation
integration platform based on Matlab/
Simulink. With this software environ-
ment it is additionally possible to find
solutions for real-time applications with
specialized tools as Themos and KATsim.
References
[1] Birkner, C.; Jung, C.; Nickel, J.; Offer, T.; von Rüden,
K.: Durchgängiger Einsatz der Simulation beim mo­
dellbasierten Entwicklungsprozess am Beispiel des
Ladungswechselsystems – von der Bauteilaus­le­
gung bis zur Kalibration der Regelalgorithmen. HdT-
Tagung Simulation und Aufladung, Berlin, 2005
[2] Kitte J.; Tietze, T.; Jänsch, D.; Bals, R.: Model­
lierung und Simulation in Dymola/Modelica als
­Basis zur Entwicklung innovativer Wärmemanage­
mentstrategien. In: Wärmemanagement des Kraft­
fahrzeugs VI. S. 252 ff., ISBN 978-3-8169-2820-1,
Expert-Verlag, Renningen, 2008
[3] Friedrich, I.: Motorprozess-Simulation in Echtzeit –
Grundlagen und Anwendungsmöglichkeiten.
­Dissertation, TU Berlin, Shaker-Verlag 2008
[4] Langeheinecke, K.; Dusemund, S.; Schneider, H.;
Bank, R.: KATSim – ein Werkzeug zur numerischen
model environment (Themos and KAT- Simulation von Abgaskatalysatoren. In: MTZ 70
(2009), Nr. 11, S. 858 – 863
Sim) can be very efficient, since for both
[5] Stölting, E.; Seebode, J., Gratzke, R.; Behnk, K.:
applications most of the necessary param- Emissionsgeführtes Motormanagement für
eters are compatible. The contradicting ­Nutzfahrzeuganwendungen. In: MTZ 69 (2008), ­
demands for real-time simulation con- Nr. 12, S. 1042 – 1049
cerning model stability and the numeri-
cal error at large time stepping are still a
challenge. Typically a compromise has to
be found between step size and accuracy.
7 Summary and Conclusion
The increasing demands on Diesel com-
bustion engines concerning exhaust
emissions, fuel consumption and power
density lead to a growing complexity of
all involved systems. The contradictory
need for further reducing the develop-
ment time can therefore only be reached
by an adaptation and improvement of
the development methodology.
The IAV’s approach focuses on a phys-
ics-based system view beginning at a very
early state of development and attending
to the series production. For this purpose
the simulation environment has to be
easily adaptable, scalable in terms of de-
gree of detail and of high connectivity.
The described hard- and software envi-
ronment for the overall vehicle simula-
tion has a heterogeneous structure based
on off-the-shelf and in-house developed
software. It can be adapted also to future
requirements through the usage of an