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Axial cooling fans are commonly used in electric vehicles to cool batteries with high heating load. One drawback of the cooling fans is the high aeroacoustic noise level resulting from the fan blades and the obstacles facing the airflow. To create a comfortable cabin environment in the vehicle, and to reduce exterior noise emission, a low-noise installation design of the axial fan is required. The purpose of the study is to investigate efficient computational aeroacoustics (CAA) simulation processes to assist the cooling-fan installation design. In this paper we report the current progress of the investigation, where the narrow-band components of the fan noise is focused on. Two methods are used to compute the noise source. In the first method the source is computed from the flow field obtained using the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (unsteady RANS, or URANS) model.

For cost-beneficial reasons simulations with computer manikins have been increasingly used in the automotive industry for prediction of ergonomics problems before the product and work place exist in physical form. The main purpose of ergonomics simulations is to apply biomechanical models and data to assess the acceptability of the physical work load, e.g. working postures, visibility, clearance etc., which could result in requirements to change the design of the product. The aim is to improve ergonomics conditions in manual assembly and to promote a better product quality through improved assemblability (ease of assembly). Many studies have shown a clear correlation between assembly ergonomics and product quality and that poor assembly ergonomics result in impaired product quality and in decreased productivity. Nevertheless, there are remaining difficulties in achieving acceptance for changes of product and production solutions because of poor assembly ergonomics.

The ability to adapt to rapidly evolving market demands continues to be the one of the key challenges in the automation of assembly processes in the aerospace industry. To meet this challenge, industry and academia have made efforts to automate flexible fixturing. LOCOMACHS (Low Cost Manufacturing and Assembly of Composite and Hybrid Structures) - a European Union funded project with 31 partners - aims to address various aspects of aero-structure assembly with a special attention directed to the development of a new build philosophy along with relevant enabling technologies. This paper aims to present the results on the developed wing box build philosophy and the integration of automated flexible tooling solutions into the assembly process. The developed solution constitutes the use of synchronized hexapods for the assembly of front spar to upper cover whereas another hexapod was developed to install a rib by using of a force feedback sensor.

Existing battery parameter model structures are evaluated by estimating model parameters on real driving data applying standard system identification methods. Models are then evaluated on the test data in terms of goodness of fit and RMSE in voltage predictions. This is different from previous battery model evaluations where a common approach is to train parameters using standardized tests, e.g. hybrid pulse-power capability (HPPC), with predetermined charge and discharge sequences. Equivalent linear circuit models of different complexity were tested and evaluated in order to identify parameter dependencies at different state of charge levels and temperatures. Models are then used to create voltage output given a current, state of charge and temperature. The average accuracy of modelling the DC bus voltage provides a model goodness of fit average higher than 90% for a single RC circuit model.

The objective of this paper is to investigate whether different appearance modes of the digital human models (DHM or manikins) affect the observers when judging a working posture. A case where the manikin is manually assembling a battery in the boot with help of a lifting device is used in the experiment. 16 different pictures were created and presented for the subjects. All pictures have the same background, but include a unique posture and manikin appearance combination. Four postures and four manikin appearances were used. The subjects were asked to rank the pictures after ergonomic assessment based on posture of the manikin. Subjects taking part in the study were either manufacturing engineering managers, simulation engineers or ergonomists. Results show that the different appearance modes affect the ergonomic judgment. A more realistic looking manikin is rated higher than the very same posture visualized with a less natural appearance.

Power dense internal combustion engines (ICEs) are interesting candidates for onboard charging devices in different electric powertrain applications where the weight, volume and price of the energy storage components are critical. Single-cylinder naturally aspirated two-stroke spark-ignited (SI) engines are very small and power dense compared to four-stroke SI engines and the installation volume from a single cylinder two-stroke engine can become very interesting in some concepts. During charged conditions, four-stroke engines become more powerful than naturally aspirated two-stroke engines. The performance level of a two-stroke SI engines with a charging system is less well understood since only a limited number of articles have so far been published. However, if charging can be successfully applied to a two-stroke engine, it can become very power dense.

The transition towards battery electric vehicles (BEVs) has increased the focus of vehicle manufacturers on energy efficiency. Ensuring adequate airflow through the heat exchanger is necessary to climatize the vehicle, at the cost of an increase in the aerodynamic drag. With lower cooling airflow requirements in BEVs during driving, the front air intakes could be made smaller and thus be placed with greater freedom. This paper explores the effects on exterior aerodynamics caused by securing a constant cooling airflow through intakes at various positions across the front of the vehicle. High-fidelity simulations were performed on a variation of the open-source AeroSUV model that is more representative of a BEV configuration. To focus on the exterior aerodynamic changes, and under the assumption that the cooling requirements would remain the same for a given driving condition, a constant mass flow boundary condition was defined at the cooling airflow inlets and outlets.