Press ReleasePlease send specimen copy and queries to:FEV GmbH, Neuenhofstraße 181, 52078 Aachen, Mr. Gälweiler, Tel. 0241 – 5689 6452

Engineers from Aachen established real-time connection between test benches for increased efficiency

In order to achieve significant time and cost reduction in the

development process, FEV and the Institute for Combustion

Engines of the RWTH Aachen University (VKA) have

implemented a virtual connection between two test benches. The

test environment consists of spatially separated test benches,

which are connected by a real-time deterministic EtherCAT

connection. “The dynamometers in both test benches are

controlled in a way that achieves the equivalent system behavior

of a real mechanical shaft,” explains Professor Stefan

Pischinger, President and CEO of FEV Group and Director of the

Institute for Combustion Engines of the RWTH Aachen

University. „With this an interaction – for example between

engine and transmission – is achieved during the prototype

phase before both components are able to be adapted, thus

saving important development time.“

The test effort of modern hybrid drives is significantly higher

when compared to conventional powertrains. The main reason

for this lies in the higher number and more complex interaction of

the components. At the same time, current trends in powertrain

development – for example, ”road to rig“ approaches – result in

the movement of significant portions of the development process

from the vehicle to the test bench and, thus, into earlier project

phases. New solutions must be found to manage this increasing

test complexity and to accelerate development cycles. Against

this background, an important new tool called the “virtual shaft”

was developed in collaboration between FEV and VKA.

From component testing to system testing Networking the test cells with the virtual shaft offers some

significant advantages: In addition to saving time, these mainly

include the provision of a protected test environment and high

number of monitoring options for the individual test objects. With

this scenario, damage to prototypes can be effectively

prevented. In addition, the virtual shaft allows the combination of

hybrid powertrains that are not yet mechanically compatible and

would otherwise have to be extensively adapted. “In

conventional development processes complexity increases step-

wise as we move from a single component up to system testing

in the vehicle,“ Dr. Albert Haas, Group Vice President test

systems at FEV, explains. “First the e-motor, the engine and the

transmission are tested separately in single test cells. The real

interactions between the different components, though, cannot

be evaluated until composite system testing can be

accomplished on a full powertrain test bench.” This step requires

not only a change in the test environment, but also mechanical

modifications and software changes. Therefore, this is usually

performed in a later development phase, where either a vehicle

or a complete powertrain is needed. “The virtual shaft makes a

valuable contribution to handling the increasing complexity of

modern hybrid drives and provides the opportunity to make the

development process more efficient,” Haas concludes.

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About FEV

The FEV Group with headquarters in Aachen, Germany, is an internationally

recognized development service provider for drive and vehicle technologies.

The company offers its global transport industry customers a complete range

of engineering services, providing support in the design, analysis and

prototyping for powertrain and transmission development, as well as vehicle

integration, calibration and homologation for advanced internal combustion

gasoline-, diesel-, and alternative-fuelled powertrains. FEV's competencies

also include design, development and prototyping of innovative vehicle

concepts, powertrain electronic control systems and hybrid-electric engine

concepts that address future emission and fuel economy standards. The Test

Systems division is a global supplier of advanced test cell, instrumentation

and test equipment. The FEV Group employs a staff of over 4,000 highly

skilled specialists at advanced technical centers on three continents.

Image caption[Virtual Shaft]

Real-time connected test benches speed up development: The

virtual shaft of FEV and VKA controls the dynamometers in two

separated test benches in a way that achieves the equivalent

system behavior of a real mechanical shaft.

Source: FEV GmbH

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Contact

FEV GmbH

Dr. Peter Wolters

Tel.: +49 241 5689-511

Fax: +49 241 5689-9659

E-Mail: wolters@fev.com

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