Design of in-vehicle networked control system architectures through the use of new design to cost and weight processes : innovation report

Over the last forty years, the use of electronic controls within the automotive industry has grown considerably. In-vehicle network technologies such as the Controller Area Network (CAN) and Local Interconnect Network (LIN) are used to connect Electronic Control Units (ECU) together, mainly to reduce the amount of wiring that would be required if hardwired integration were used. Modern passenger cars contain many networks, which means that for the architecture designer, there is an almost overwhelming number of choices on how to design/partition the system depending on factors such as cost, weight, availability of ECUs, safety, Electro-Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) etc. Despite the increasing role played by in-vehicle networks in automotive electrical architectures, its design could currently be described as a “black art”. Not only is there an almost overwhelming number of choices facing the designer, but there is currently a lack of a quantifiable process to aid decision making and there is a dearth of published literature available. NetGen is a software tool used to design CAN/J1939, LIN and FlexRay networks. For the product to remain competitive, it is desirable to have novel features over the competition. This report describes a body of work, the aim of which was to research in-vehicle network design processes, and to provide an improvement to such processes. The opportunities of customer projects and availability of customer information resulted in the scope of the research focusing on the adoption of LIN technology and whether the adoption of it could reduce the cost and weight of the target architecture. The research can therefore be seen to address two issues: firstly the general problem of network designers needing to design in-vehicle network based architectures balancing the needs of many design targets such as cost, weight etc, and secondly the commercial motivation to find novel features for the design tool, NetGen. The outcome of the research described in this report was the development of design processes that can be used for the selection of low cost and weight automotive electrical architectures using coarse information, such as that which would be easily available at the very beginning of a vehicle design programme. The key benefit of this is that a number of candidate networked architectures can be easily assessed for their ability to reduce cost and weight of the electrical architecture

Management of intellectual property uncertainty in a remanufacturing strategy for automotive energy storage systems

Legislative requirements are motivating vehicle manufacturers to produce innovative electric vehicle (EV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) concepts. End-of-Life (EOL) for the vehicle’s battery is often taken to be the battery having 80% retained capacity. Even at this lower threshold, there is still considerable inherent value embedded within the battery system. The extraction of raw materials through recycling and the use of the battery in second life applications are widely documented. In contrast, there has been relatively little research published that investigates the options and requirements for remanufacturing the vehicle’s battery system as one means of improving the efficiency of the overall production process. This paper addresses two of the barriers, often cited, that inhibit organizations from adopting a remanufacturing strategy—ambiguity regarding the meaning of remanufacturing and uncertainty in how to manage intellectual property (IP). Based on a critical review of UK law and legal decisions pertaining to remanufacturing, the authors propose a revised set of definitions for circular economy activities, exploiting the terms: warranty and design-life to provide a clear differentiation for remanufacturing. The authors also propose a new framework for managing IP uncertainty. The model may be employed by both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to protect their innovations and remanufacturing activities and by independent organizations seeking to remanufacture OEM products

Validation of automotive electromagnetic models

The problems of modelling the electromagnetic characteristics of vehicles and the experimental validation of such models are considered. The validity of the measurement methods that are applied in model validation exercises is of particular concern. A philosophy for approaching the validation of automotive electromagnetic models of realistic complexity is presented. Mathematical modelling of the key elements of the measurement processes is proposed as the only reliable mechanism for addressing these issues. Areas considered include: basic elements of numerical models; geometrical fidelity requirements for model elements; calibration and use of experimental transducers; the inclusion of cables in electromagnetic models; essential content for vehicle models. A number of practical measurement processes are also investigated using numerical methods, leading to recommendations for improved practices in: calibration of transducers for current measurement at high frequencies; measurement of radiated emissions from vehicles; identification of range requirements for simple methods of determining antenna gain and related characteristics in EMC test facilities. The impact of such measures on the success of model validation studies for automotive applications is demonstrated. It is concluded that experimental results are no less in need of validation than the numerical results that are, more conventionally, judged against them

The changing geography of the European automobile system

Based on the research done by the European thematic network CoCKEAS (FP6), the paper analyses the recent changes in the European automobile geography. It discusses the impacts of the EU enlargement: integration of Central and Eastern European countries and new spatial competition for Southern European countries (Spain, Portugal). The study of the geographic distribution of automobile production within Europe focuses on the dynamic of specialisation of regions through collective learning processes, and the clustering of design and assembly activities (supplier parks).automobile industry, cluster, Europe, location, proximity, spatial division of labour

Fairness, rationality and integration : success factors towards a new organizational model

Originally published in the Working paper series of the MIT International Motor Vehicle Program.Includes bibliographical references (p. 19-20).Toshihiro Nishiguchi

A novel optimization methodology of modular wiring harnesses in modern vehicles : weight reduction and safe operation

The weight of electric and electronic components of cars has been uninterruptedly increasing through the last decades, and thus the weight of their wiring harnesses. This fact has awakened the interest of car manufacturers on the weight and cost optimization of automotive wiring harnesses . For this reason, this dissertation discusses and develops approaches to reduce the amount of copper for the purpose of current conduction, i.e. the cross-sections of all of the wires of the car, without endangering safety. On the one hand, harnesses must withstand continuous operation currents. On account of this, it is necessary to know the characteristic flow of current of the in-vehicle electrical network. Nevertheless. the huge quantity of available combinations of equipment of the car produces a proportional variety of customer-specific wiring hamesses, and makes it unfeasible to simulate all of them. This thesis points attention on specific segments of the wiring harnesses. Sorne of them can have many possible compositions, which are related to the customer's car settings. Since computation time is a limiting factor here, it is proposed to predict the bundle heating behaviors by means of response surfaces, obtained from a set of finite element simulation results and the least squares method. On the other hand, the correct wire sizes must ensure that they are protected by their associated melting fuses, so that their maximum acceptable temperature is not exceeded after short circuits. Since many wires in cars are connected to other wires with splices, or may suffer short-circuits in their electric loads, these short-circuits can flow across different wires. In modular wiring harnesses, each of the wires can have different lengths and different installation ratios, their cross-section affects the cost of the wire harness with different importance, as well as the short circuit and the final temperature of the wire. The finite volume method is used to simulate the short circuit of series-connected wires. Finally, non-linear optimization is used to find the mínimum cross­ sections of wires respecting the constraints of maximum temperature and mínimum short-circuit current. Finally, these two different criteria for optima! wire dimensioning are combined in the analysis of the on-board network of the vehicle in order to make a complete weight and cost minimization of the cable harnesses in a particular vehicle, considering also its modularity of loads.El pes dels components elèctrics i electrònics deis automòbils ha crescut ininterrompudament al llarg de les darreres dècades, i conseqüentment ho han fet també els seus feixos de cables. Aquest fet ha despertat entre els fabricants de turismes un elevat interès en la minimització del pes i dels costos del cablejat del vehicle. Per aquest motiu, aquesta tesi desenvolupa mètodes per reduir la quantitat de coure destinat a la conducció de corrent, és a dir, les seccions de tots els fils elèctrics dins el cotxe, sense posar en risc la seguretat. Per una banda, els feixos han de resistir els corrents d'operació continuada. Per a aquest propòsit, cal conèixer el flux de corrents característic de la xarxa de bord del vehicle. No obstant, la immensa quantitat de combinacions de diferents equipaments del vehicle produeix proporcionalment una enorme varietat de feixos personalitzats per als clients, fet que fa inviable simular totes aquestes combinacions . El primer dels mètodes d'optimització que es proposen en aquesta tesi estudia segments dels feixos de cables per separat un a un. Alguns d'ells poden tenir diferents composicions de fils en funció de la configuració aplicada pel client. Com que el temps de calcul és un factor limitant, es proposa predir el comportament tèrmic dels segments per mitja de superfícies resposta, que s'obtenen a través del mètode deis mínims quadrats i un conjunt de resultats de simulació de feixos pel mètode dels elements finits. Per altra banda, les correctes seccions dels fils han de ser tals que els curtcircuits i les sobrecarregues no puguin malmetre'ls, gracies a la correcta coordinació amb els fusibles destinats a protegir-los. Atès que molts fils estan connectats amb altres fils per mitja d'unions soldades i que molts curtcircuits són provocats directament en bornes de les carregues elèctriques, els curtcircuits poden fluir a través de fils diferenciats connectats en serie. Als feixos modulars, cadascun deis fils té diferents longituds i ratis d'instal·lació. És per aquest darrer motiu que llur secció afecta de diferent manera al cost total del conjunt deis feixos de cables deis cotxes venuts . De la mateixa manera, les seves longituds diferents fan que les variacions en les seccions alterin els curtcircuits resultants amb diferent sensibilitat. És per això que es fa servir optimització no lineal per trobar les seccions separades de cadascun dels fils connectats en serie a través dels quals poden passar curtcircuits. Per a aquesta fi es fan simulacions en volums finits i models energètics dels fusibles integrades dins de l'optimització no lineal. Finalment, aquestes dues vies de dimensionament es combinen dins una anàlisi íntegra de la xarxa de bord per dimensionar de forma òptima cadascun dels fils del vehicle, tenint en compte les interconnexions entre feixos i totes les combinacions d'equipament

Determinants of supply chain structure

This dissertation is a contribution to the study of manufacturing subcontracting, with particular reference to the European Automotive industrial sector. It takes as its central theme, the structure of supply chains - the way in which value addition is split amongst members of the chain. The thesis addresses a central question: What factors determine optimum structure and practice in modem-day industrial supply chains? This devolves into a number of derivative questions to which various parts of the study are addressed. With reference to 24 case study supply chains the investigation first tests whether existing theory can fully explain the changing structures. From the results of these tests a new model is postulated and then further work is carried out to validate the model. It was found that the concentration in existing theory on primarily dyadic relationships meant that when taken alone, current theory was insufficient to explain the changes in supply chain structure in the European automotive industry in the mid to late 1990s. It is felt that the work is novel in that it addresses the whole supply chain, and demonstrates the clear link between the physical structure and other determining success factors. Two methods for recording and systematically comparing both the structure and management practices in supply chains were developed - termed 'Fixed Reference Benchmark' and 'Hierarchical Structure Mapping'. These two models were tested, and used in the comparison of 24 European automotive supply chains. The results of this analysis showed the dominant factors that most heavily influenced the structure of supply chains in the European Automotive Industry to be: Criticality of component (which in turn affects the acceptability of risk), the level, and pace of development of technology for the component or system of the supply chain (which is strongly linked to bargaining power), the desire to reduce the complexity of logistics (which is also linked to acceptability of risk), the desire to reduce the cost of demand fluctuations, and the capital intensity of the production process. It is felt that this study of supply chain structures is valuable in its contribution to new knowledge on three levels. At a theoretical level, it analyses the current theory, exposing gaps and anomalies. At an empirical level it presents contemporary data that in some parts simply substantiates and in others adds to the current theory. On a practical level it aims to present a picture which is of use to practitioners making decisions on the future of individual supply chains

Alternative vehicle electronic architecture for individual wheel control

Electronic control systems have become an integral part of the modern vehicle and their installation rate is still on a sharp rise. Their application areas range from powertrain, chassis and body control to entertainment. Each system is conventionally control led by a centralised controller with hard-wired links to sensors and actuators. As systems have become more complex, a rise in the number of system components and amount of wiring harness has followed. This leads to serious problems on safety, reliability and space limitation. Different networking and vehicle electronic architectures have been developed by others to ease these problems. The thesis proposes an alternative architecture namely Distributed Wheel Architecture, for its potential benefits in terms of vehicle dynamics, safety and ease of functional addition. The architecture would have a networked controller on each wheel to perform its dynamic control including braking, suspension and steering. The project involves conducting a preliminary study and comparing the proposed architecture with four alternative existing or high potential architectures. The areas of study are functionality, complexity, and reliability. Existing ABS, active suspension and four wheel steering systems are evaluated in this work by simulation of their operations using road test data. They are used as exemplary systems, for modelling of the new electronic architecture together with the four alternatives. A prediction technique is developed, based on the derivation of software pseudo code from system specifications, to estimate the microcontroller specifications of all the system ECUs. The estimate indicates the feasibility of implementing the architectures using current microcontrollers. Message transfer on the Controller Area Network (CAN) of each architecture is simulated to find its associated delays, and hence the feasibility of installing CAN in the architectures. Architecture component costs are estimated from the costs of wires, ECUs, sensors and actuators. The number of wires is obtained from the wiring models derived from exemplary system data. ECU peripheral component counts are estimated from their statistical plot against the number of ECU pins of collected ECUs. Architecture component reliability is estimated based on two established reliability handbooks. The results suggest that all of the five architectures could be implemented using present microcontrollers. In addition, critical data transfer via CAN is made within time limits under current levels of message load, indicating the possibility of installing CAN in these architectures. The proposed architecture is expected to· be costlier in terms of components than the rest of the architectures, while it is among the leaders for wiring weight saving. However, it is expected to suffer from a relatively higher probability of system component failure. The proposed architecture is found not economically viable at present, but shows potential in reducing vehicle wire and weight problems

Implications of additive manufacturing on complexity management within supply chains in a production environment.

This dissertation focuses on developing a generic framework for using additive manufacturing as an appropriate production method to address the management of complexity in supply chains. While several drivers such as changing customer demand patterns and intensifying global competition increase product complexity, the available number of product variants and related processes within the supply chain itself increase costs and dilute scale effects. Several concepts and tools like mass customization, modularization, and product platforms have been developed in the past decades, but most of them focus on the product structure. Currently, there is no comprehensive tool set developed in the field of complexity management that incorporates all aspects of supply chain performance (costs, service, quality, and lead time) and evaluates the impacts of additive manufacturing to manage the complexity in the supply chain. This dissertation was developed primarily to address this research gap. The literature review in this dissertation provides in-depth reviews on specific topics in the field of additive manufacturing production technology, supply chain management, complexity management, and complexity management in supply chains through additive manufacturing. The dissertation presents the development of a framework for supply chain performance and complexity measurement with a focus on costs and performance depending on production technology. This framework will be the basis for measuring the impacts of additive manufacturing on supply chain performance and level of complexity, by using modeling and reconfiguring supply chain models, and applying complexity management tools in conjunction with additive manufacturing. Based on the findings, a generic framework is developed to identify when and how to apply additive manufacturing to enhance complexity management capabilities in supply chains. Two case studies will be used to show an application field, where additive manufacturing would require additional time, while another case study suggests the usage of additive manufacturing in the context of supply chain complexity: A case study of a control panel supply chain will provide an overview of the implications of substituting an injection molding production technology with an additive manufacturing technology on the supply chain and its complexity. Another case study of teeth aligners shows how additive manufacturing helps to improve supply chain complexity by substituting plaster tools with an additive manufacturing technology

Design, taking into account the partial discharges phenomena, of the electrical insulation system (EIS) of high power electrical motors for hybrid electric propulsion of future regional aircrafts

La réduction des émissions de CO2 est un enjeu majeur pour l'Europe dans les années à venir. Les transports sont aujourd'hui à l'origine de 24% des émissions globales de CO2. L'aviation ne représente que 2% des émissions globales de CO2. Cependant, le trafic aérien est en pleine expansion et, déjà, des inquiétudes apparaissent. A titre d'exemple, en Suède, depuis les années 1990, les émissions de CO2 dues au trafic aérien ont augmenté de 61%. Ce constat explique l'apparition du mouvement "Flygskam" qui se repend dans de plus en plus de pays Européen. C'est dans ce contexte que l'Union Européenne a lancé en septembre 2016 le projet Hybrid Aircraft Academic research on Thermal and Electrical Components and Systems (HASTECS). Le consortium regroupe différents laboratoires et Airbus. Ce projet s'inscrit dans le programme "Clean Sky 2" qui vise à développer une aviation plus verte. L'objectif ambitieux est de réduire de 20% les émissions de CO2 et le bruit produits par les avions d'ici 2025. Pour cela, le consortium étudie une architecture hybride de type série. La propulsion est assurée par des moteurs électriques. Deux cibles ont été définies. En 2025, les moteurs doivent atteindre une densité de puissance de 5kW/kg, système de refroidissement inclus. En 2035, la densité de puissance des moteurs sera doublée pour atteindre 10kW/kg. Pour atteindre ces cibles, le niveau de tension sera considérablement augmenté, au-delà du kilovolt. Le risque de décharges électriques dans les stators des moteurs électriques est considérablement accru. L'objectif de cette thèse est de mettre au point un outil d'aide au design du Système d'Isolation Electrique (SIE) primaire du stator de moteur électrique piloté par convertisseur. Elle est découpée en cinq parties. La première partie commence par préciser les enjeux et défis d'une aviation plus verte. Le SIE du stator de moteur électrique est développé. Enfin, les contraintes qui s'appliquent sur le SIE dans l'environnement aéronautique sont identifiées. La deuxième partie présente les différents types de décharges électriques que l'on peut retrouver. Le principal risque vient des Décharges Partielles (DP) qui détériorent peu à peu le SIE. Le principal mécanisme pour expliquer l'apparition des DP est l'avalanche électronique. Le critère de Paschen permet d'évaluer le Seuil d'Apparition des Décharges Partielles (SADP). Différentes techniques permettent de détecter et mesurer l'activité des DP. Des modèles numériques permettent d'évaluer le SADP. La troisième partie présente une méthode originale pour déterminer les lignes de champ électrique dans un problème électrostatique. Elle n'utilise qu'une formulation en potentiel scalaire. La quatrième partie présente une étude expérimentale pour établir une correction du critère de Paschen. Un bobinage de moteur électrique est très loin des hypothèses dans lesquelles ce critère a été originellement défini. Enfin, la cinquième partie est consacrée à l'élaboration de l'outil d'aide au design du SIE. Des abaques sont construites afin de fournir des recommandations sur le dimensionnement des différents isolants dans une encoche de stator. Une réduction du SADP due à une variation combinée de la température et de la pression est prise en compte.Reducing CO2 emissions is a major challenge for Europe in the years to come. Nowadays, transport is the source of 24% of global CO2 emissions. Aviation accounts for only 2% of global CO2 emissions. However, air traffic is booming and concerns are emerging. For instance, CO2 emissions from air traffic have increased by 61% in Sweden since the 1990s. This explains the emergence of the "Flygskam" movement which is spreading in more and more European countries. It is in this context that the European Union launched in September 2016 the project Hybrid Aircraft Academic research on Thermal and Electrical Components and Systems (HASTECS). The consortium brings together different laboratories and Airbus. This project is part of the program "Clean Sky 2" which aims to develop a greener aviation. The ambitious goal is to reduce CO2 emissions and the noise produced by aircraft by 20% by 2025. To do that, the consortium is studying a serial hybrid architecture. Propulsion is provided by electric motors. Two targets are defined. In 2025, the engines must reach a power density of 5kW/kg, including the cooling system. In 2035, the power density of the engines will be doubled to reach 10kW/kg. To reach these targets, the voltage level will be considerably increased, beyond one kilovolt. The risk of electric discharges in the stators of electric motors is considerably increased. The objective of this thesis is to develop a tool to assist in the design of the primary Electrical Insulation System (EIS) of the stator of an electric motor controlled by a converter. It is organized in 5 parts. The first part begins by clarifying the issues and challenges of a greener aviation. The electric motor stator EIS is developed. Finally, the constraints that apply to the EIS in the aeronautical environment are identified. The second part presents the different types of electric discharges that can be found. The main risk comes from Partial Discharges (PD) which gradually deteriorate the EIS. The main mechanism for explaining the appearance of PD is the electronic avalanche. The Paschen criterion makes it possible to evaluate the Partial Discharge Inception Voltage (PDIV). Different techniques are used to detect and measure the activity of PD. Numerical models are used to evaluate the PDIV. The third part presents an original method for determining the electric field lines in an electrostatic problem. It only uses a scalar potential formulation. The fourth part presents an experimental study to establish a correction of the Paschen criterion. An electric motor winding is very far from the hypotheses in which this criterion was originally defined. Finally, the fifth part is devoted to the development of the SIE design aid tool. Graphs are generated to provide recommendations on the sizing of the various insulators in a stator slot. A reduction in the PDIV due to a combined variation in temperature and pressure is taken into account