Integrated Hybrid Hydraulic Vehicle Simulation

Integrated Hybrid Hydraulic Vehicle Simulation Abstract: A parallel hybrid hydraulic architecture is proposed and simulated. Compared with a hybrid electric system, the proposed hydraulic system is more effective and less restricted in regenerative braking so that the vehicle fuel economy can be improved significantly. Since hybridization increases the complexity of the vehicle powertrain greatly, power management is a real challenge especially for parallel configurations. Several power management strategies are proposed and compared. With the preferred strategy, the best fuel economy result is obtained for a medium-size truck running FUDS cycles. Background: 21st century vehicles are expected to be 2 - 3 times more efficient. Although new light weight materials and structures contribute much towards achieving such a goal, braking regeneration has been regarded as one of the most effective and practical ways to improve fuel economy. Advanced hybrid powertrain architectures are critical to further fuel economy improvements.	Researchers: Byungchan Lee Zoran Filipi Dennis Assanis
Goals of the work: By integrating several well-validated modules, a new simulation tool, HH_VESIM, is under development within a Matlab/SimuLink environment. The newly developed HH_VESIM tool can be used for predictions of vehicle fuel economy and mobility, evaluations of power management strategies and optimization of design parameters.
Achievements: A whole set of models for various hydraulic components has been constructed and programmed. Simulation studies show that the fuel saving potential and accelerating mobility of the newly proposed hybrid hydraulic vehicle is better than those of a hybrid electric vehicle with comparable weight and cost (click here to view an animated result). A detailed energy conversion and distribution study has been conducted for a typical deceleration-acceleration process. The efficiencies of hydraulic components are calculated and compared with their electric counterparts.