Parallel Hybrid Vehicle Simulation

This page provides the steps on how to model a parallel hybrid vehicle, it has been documented in such a way that first time user can recreate the simulation from the beginning.
The reference result of this particular vehicle has been uploaded so that the user can compare their own simulation.

To learn more about how to create a simple model, go to SIMarchitect Tutorial

Creating the model

The model is split into four different subsystems. Those are:

• Test scenario (Driving cycle)
• ECU
• Plant model (Parallel Hybrid vehicle powertrain component)
• Driver (Vehicle driver model)

Parallel Hybrid vehicle simulation

Test Scenario

• Insert the Test_scenario component to (SIMarchitect) workspace, this component can be found under the Test Scenario in SIMarchitect Library.

Test_scenario

ECU

To create the ECU subsystem:

• First insert an empty_area component to (SIMarchitect) workspace, this component can be found under the modeling tools below SIMarchitect general library
  
• Second, rename this empty_area componenent into ECU.
  
• Third, delete the in and out ports inside the ECU subsystem as it is shown in the figure below.

empty_area

• Fourth, insert the ECU module to the ECU subsytem. The ECU module and its parameter file can be downloaded here
• Fifth, delete the extra port in the sub_connector (green box in the figure below) by double-clicking the sub_connector and change the number of inputs into 1 to delete this extra port.

ECU area

Plant model

To create the Plant_model subsystem:

• First insert an empty_area component to (SIMarchitect) workspace, this component can be found under the modeling tools below SIMarchitect general library.
• Second, rename this empty_area component into Plant_model. Do not use other names than the one specifies here otherwise, it will be confusing for assigning the signal input.
• Third, delete the in and out ports inside the Plant_model subsystem as it is shown in the empty_area figure above.
• Fourth, insert the components listed below to the Plant_model subsystem and order them as it is shown in the figure below.

All of the components can be found in the downloaded SIMarchitect library under component library → automotive → HDH - HiLS → chassis or powertrain and they are all color coded.

The components of parallel hybrid vehicle powertrain:

• Internal Combustion Engine
• Clutch
• Mechanical connection
• Transmission
• Final gear
• Chassis
• Battery
• Electric machine
• Electrical auxiliary system

• Fifth, add an extra port in the sub_connector, this can be done by double-clicking the sub_connector and change the number of input to 10.
• Sixth, locate the from tag of Electric machine module and Electrical auxiliary system and copy-paste it in the workspace.
• Seventh, insert two (2) Bus Selector(s) and connect it to each tag.
• Eighth, double-click the first bus selector, remove signal1 and signal2 under the selected signals inside the bus selector prompt and select Electric_machine_electrical_fb__output.phys_current_A under the Electric_machine_sensor.
• Ninth, double-click the second bus selector, remove signal1 and signal2 under the selected signals inside the bus selector prompt and select Electrical_aux_electrical_fb_output.phys_current_A under the Electrical_aux_sensor.
• Tenth, insert sum component to add the selected signals.
• Finally, connect the sum component to the sub_connector and rename the signal as battery_current_input.

Plant model area

Driver

To create driver subsystem:

• First insert an empty_area component to (SIMarchitect) workspace, this component can be found under the modeling tools below SIMarchitect general library.
• Second, rename this empty_area component into Driver.
• Third, delete the in and out ports inside the Driver subsystem as it is shown in the empty_area figure above.
• Fourth, insert the vehicle driver manual to the Driver subsystem.
• Fifth, delete the extra port in the sub_connector, by doing the same method as it was explained in the previous two subsystems.

Driver area.

Assigning signal inputs

ECU

To assign the signal input for ECU module:

• First, double-click the black box on top of the module to show the bus selector prompt.
• Second, remove none from the selected signals area, located on the right-hand side of the bus selector prompt.

Note: Be aware that the signal shown in the bus selector prompt might not be in the same order as it is shown in the table below. The signals should be assigned according to the order shown in the table below. Otherwise, the simulation will give an error and not run.

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Accelerator pedal position	Driver	vehicle_driver_manual_module → Driver	Drv_AccPedl_Rt
Brake pedal position			Drv_BrkPedl_Rt
Drive cycle reference speed			Drivecycle_RefSpeed_mps
Clutch pedal position			Drv_CluPedl_Rt
Requested gear number			Drv_nrGearReq
Actual engine speed	Plant_model	ICE_module → ICE_sensor	Eng_nAct_radps
Crankshaft torque			Eng_tqCrkSftAct_Nm
Indicated torque			Eng_tqindAct_Nm
Engine oil temperature			Eng_tOilAct_K
Battery output current		Battery_module → Battery_sensor	Batt_iAct_A
Battery output voltage			Batt_uAct_V
State of charge			Batt_socAct_Rt
Battery temperature			Batt_tAct_K
Clutch disengaged or not		Clutch_module → Clutch_sensor	Clu_flgConnected_B
Electric machine output torque		Electric_machine_module → Electric_machine_sensor	ElecMac_tqAct_Nm
Electric machine output speed			ElecMac_nAct_radps
Electric machine output current			ElecMac_iAct_A
Electric machine output temperature			ElecMac_tAct_K
Transmission output speed		Transmission_module → Transmission_sensor	Transm_nOutAct_radps
Transmission gear number			Transm_nrGearAct
Clutch lock			Transm_flgConnected_B
Transmission input speed			Transm_nInAct_radps
Vehicle velocity		Chassis_module → Chassis_sensor	Chassis_vVehAct_mps
Wheel speed			Chassis_nWheelAct_radps
Vehicle mass			Chassis_massVehAct_kg
Road slope			Chassis_slopeRoad_rad
Auxiliary system output current		Electrical_aux_system_module → Electrical_aux_sensor	Aux_iAct_A

Plant model

To assign the signal input for each component module:

• First, double-click the black box on top of the module to show the bus selector prompt.
• Second, remove none from the selected signals area, located on the right-hand side of the bus selector prompt.
• Third, follow the table below to assign signals to each component module.

Note: Be aware that the signal shown in the bus selector prompt might not be in the same order as it is shown in the table below.
The signals should be assigned according to the order shown in the table below. Otherwise, the simulation will give an error and not run.

ICE module

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Requested engine speed	ECU	ECU_module → cmd	Eng_nReq_radps
Switch Speed / torque control			Eng_flgReqSwitch_B
Requested engine torque			Eng_tqReq_Nm
Exhaust brake ON / OFF			Eng_flgExhaustBrake_B
Engine ON / OFF			Eng_flgonoff_B
Starter motor ON / OFF			Eng_flgstrtrReq_B
Fuel cut off			Eng_flgFuelCut_B
Engine rotational speed	Plant_model	Clutch_module → clutch_mechanical_fb_output	phys_speed_radps

Clutch module

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Requested clutch pedal position	ECU	ECU_module → cmd	Clu_ratReq_B
Clutch torque input	plant_model	ICE_module → ICE_mechanical output	phys_torque_Nm
Clutch inertia input			phys_inertia_kgm2
Clutch rotational speed input		Mechanical_connection_module → MC_mechanical_fb_output1	phys_speed_radps

Mechanical connection module

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Mechanical connection torque input 1	plant_model	Clutch_module → clutch_mechanical_output	phys_torque_Nm
Mechanical connection inertia input 1			phys_inertia_kgm2
Mechanical connection torque input 2		Electric_machine_module → Electric_machine_mechanical_output	phys_torque_Nm
Mechanical connection inertia input 2			phys_inertia_kgm2
Mechanical connection feedback input		Transmission_module → Transmission_mechanical_fb_output	phys_speed_radps

Transmission module

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Requested gear number	ECU	ECU_module → cmd	Transm_nrGearReq
Transmission torque input	plant_model	Mechanical_connection_module → MC_mechanical_output	phys_torque_Nm
Transmission inertia input			phys_inertia_kgm2
Transmission rotational speed input		Final_gear_module → Final_gear_mechanical fb output	phys_speed_radps

Final gear module

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Final gear torque input	plant_model	Transmission_module → Transmission_mechanical_output	phys_torque_Nm
Final gear inertia input			phys_inertia_kgm2
Final gear rotational speed input		Chassis_module → Chassis_mechanical_fb_output	phys_speed_radps

Chassis module

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Requested chassis brake torque	ECU	ECU_module → cmd	Chassis_tqBrake_Nm
Chassis torque input	plant_model	Final_gear_module → Final_gear_mechanical_output	phys_torque_Nm
Chassis inertia input			phys_inertia_kgm2
Drivecycle slope	Test_scenario	Test_scenario	drivecycle_time_slope

Battery module

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Battery current input	plant_model	plant_model	battery_current_input
Battery Actual cooling flow	ECU	ECU_module → cmd	Batt_flowActCooling_kgps

Electric machine module

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Requested electric machine speed	ECU	ECU_module → cmd	ElecMac_nReq_radps
Switch speed / torque control			ElecMac_flgReqSwitch_B
Requested electric machine torque			ElecMac_tqReq_Nm
Electric machine actual cooling flow			ElecMac_flowActCooling_kgps
Electric machine voltage input	plant_model	Battery_module → Battery_electrical output	phys_voltage_V
Electric machine rotational speed input		Mechanical_connection_module → MC_mechanical_join_output2	phys_speed_radps

Electrical aux system module

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Requested power	ECU	ECU_module → cmd	Aux_pwrElecReq_W
Voltage input	plant_model	Battery_module → Battery_electrical_output	phys_voltage_V

Driver

To assign the signal input for Vehicle driver module:

• First, double-click the black box on top of the module to show the bus selector prompt.
• Second, remove none from the selected signals area, located on the right-hand side of the bus selector prompt.
• Third, follow the table below to assign signals to Vwhicle_driver_manual_module.

Note: Be aware that the signal shown in the bus selector prompt might not be in the same order as it is shown in the table below.
The signals should be assigned according to the order shown in the table below. Otherwise, the simulation will give an error and not run.

Input signal	Located under		Signal label
Actual vehicle velocity	plant_model	Chassis_module → Chassis_sensor	Chassis_vVehAct_mps
Transmission input speed		Transmission_module → Transmission_sensor	Transm_nInAct_radps
Transmission actual gear number			Transm_nrGearAct
Clutch disengaged or not		Clutch_module → clutch_sensor	Clu_flgConnected_B
Accelerator pedal rate	Driver	vehicle_driver_manual_module → Driver	Drv_AccPedl_Rt
Drive cycle time and speed	Test_scenario	Test_scenario	drivecycle_time_speed

Simulation Settings

There simulation settings for this simulation are:

Settings	Value
Time	1800 [s]
Fixed - step size	0.01
Solver type	ode3 (Bogacki - shampine)

Run the simulation

To ensure that the simulation result of the created project is the same as the result shown in the next chapter, use this parallel hybrid vehicle parameter file.

Load the downloaded parameter into the created parallel hybrid vehicle simulation, this can be done by double-clicking the parameter setting button located on the top level layout of SIMarchitect and select the directory of where does the downloaded parameter file is located.

The sequence of running the simulation:

• First, run parameter_main m.file
• Second, choose the desired output results in the Output Selector block
• Third, run the simulation
• Fourth, plot the results using Results Plot GUI block

The output from each individual module can be plotted using the Results Plot GUI.

Simulation Result

Use these Simulation Results to do graphical validation.
The simulation results of the parallel hybrid vehicle are as follows:

Module	Result
Internal Combustion Engine	ICE mechanical output.
Clutch	Clutch mechanical output.
Mechanical connection	Mechanical connection mechanical output.
Transmission	Transmission mechanical output.
Final gear	Final gear mechanical output.
Chassis	Chassis mechanical feed back output.
Battery	Battery eletrical output.
Electric Machine	Electric machine mechanical output.
Electrical Auxiliary system	Electrical auxiliary mechanical output.