Automotive and transportation

Dongfeng Commercial
Product
Simcenter
Business challenges
Cut truck development costs
and time
Reduce the number of
prototypes and the use of
test benches
Maintain a competitive edge
by implementing energy
recovery concepts
Keys to success
Design an efficient engine
cooling system with advanced
controls strategies
Optimize existing diesel
engines by considering
different design options
Analyze the impact of the
exhaust heat recovery
technology under real
driving conditions
Vehicle
Leading truck manufacturer optimizes engine cooling
controls strategies with Simcenter Amesim
Siemens PLM Software solution
helps Dongfeng Commercial
Vehicle investigate the Rankine
cycle concept to boost truck fuel
efficiency
Quest for sustainable trucks
The truck market is an excellent barometer
for assessing the health of the global
economy. This small but significant
segment of the automotive industry
provides transportation for all consumer
and industrial goods by complementing
other means of conveyance or by support-
ing the entire logistics chain.
However, even though trucks represent a
relatively small slice of the transportation
market, they play an outsized role in
energy usage and emissions. For instance,
in 2010 heavy-duty trucks represented only
four percent of registered vehicles in the
United States, but accounted for approxi-
mately 25 percent of on-road energy use
and greenhouse gas emissions. It is there-
fore not surprising that truck manufacturers
have followed the lead of the automakers
by shifting toward greener vehicle designs.
Currently, nearly 60 percent of the energy
contained in the fuel of a heavy-duty truck
is wasted in the engine through pumping,
friction, cooling and exhaust losses.
Moreover, considering that fuel is the main
expense for the truck fleets, the payback
period for energy-efficient technologies is
sometimes less than one year, which is 5 to
10 times faster than for cars.

Results
Optimized engine cooling
controls strategies
Analyzed behavior of the
combustion, cooling and
lubrication subsystems in the
context of the entire vehicle
Studied Rankine cycle
technology before the first
prototype was available

As a leading transport service partner in China, DFCV is curren tly working on engine fuel efficiency to optimize
freight transportation patterns.

www.siemens.com/plm/simcenter-amesim
“ We needed a simulation
tool that would allow us
to understand all of the
technical issues of a complex
system such as an engine,
by modeling its combustion,
cooling, lubrication sub-
systems and then integrating
these subsystem models
into the entire vehicle
model.”
Zhang Xin
Controls Engineer
Performance and Controls
Section
Engine Development
Department
DFCV Technical Center
Using Simcenter Amesim helps DFCV validate advanced controls strategies of the modern diesel engine’s cooling
system.
Thus, heavy-duty truck manufacturers, like
their counterparts in the car industry, are
accelerating their efforts to develop effi-
cient energy recovery concepts.
One of the most promising approaches for
the truck industry is the exhaust heat
recovery technology with a Rankine cycle
system. In a closed Rankine cycle loop, the
working fluid, heated by exhaust gases,
turns into vapor. Then the fluid vapor runs
a turbine, which can be directly linked
either to the crankshaft of the engine or to
an electric generator. In spite of controls
and design complexity, there is rising
interest in this technology because it
would allow truck producers to improve
overall fuel efficiency by approximately
5 percent.
Conquering the largest market
Due to its rapid economic growth, China
has become the world’s largest heavy-duty
truck market, representing more than 40
percent of the global share. To gain access
to the promising Chinese market and share
development costs of new-generation
engines, European and American truck
manufacturers are establishing joint
ventures with local truck producers. At the
same time, this cooperation allows Asian
truck original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) to reinforce their technical exper-
tise and worldwide presence.
In 2013, the Swedish auto manufacturer
AB Volvo signed an agreement with the
Chinese OEM Dongfeng Motor Group

“ With Simcenter Amesim, we have reduced

our development costs significantly because
we no longer need to use a test bench to
validate our controls strategies.”
Zhang Xin
Controls Engineer
Performance and Controls Section
Engine Development Department
DFCV Technical Center
 Best-of-breed truck manufacturers must take a sustainable path by offering innovative, greener engine designs.
(DFG) to establish the joint venture
Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle (DFCV). This
agreement will make AB Volvo the world’s
largest manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks.
Enhancing diesel engine control
strategies
To meet the strong demand of its domestic
market, DFCV seeks to optimize the diesel
engine development cycle while reducing
the number of prototypes and the use of
test benches in the early design phases.
Acknowledged as a leading transport
service partner in China, DFCV is currently
working on engine fuel efficiency to opti-
mize freight transportation patterns. The
Engine Development Department of the
DFCV Technical Center is dealing with
increasingly complex control strategies
that make it possible to optimize engine
thermal management. In order to
“ We believe that our simulation approach,
supported by Simcenter Amesim, contributes
strongly to our future competitiveness.”
Zhang Xin
Controls Engineer
Performance and Controls Section
Engine Development Department
DFCV Technical Center
maximize engine fuel efficiency, the
engineers of the Performance and
Controls Section have to answer a number
of questions, such as “What is the best
way to optimize fan controls to save fuel
while maintaining cooling performance?”
and “How could a controlled thermostat or
water pump improve the cooling system
performance?”
“We needed a simulation tool that would
allow us to understand all of the technical
issues of a complex system such as an
engine, by modeling its combustion,
cooling, lubrication subsystems and then
integrating these subsystem models into
the entire vehicle model,” says Zhang Xin,
a controls engineer in the Performance
and Controls Section of the Engine
Development Department of the DFCV
Technical Center.
The lubrication circuit is one of the engine subsystems that DFCV models with Simcenter
Amesim in order to integrate it into the entire vehicle model.
The Engine Development Department
turned to Siemens PLM Software for help.
Following a benchmark, DFCV was
impressed by the unprecedented accuracy
of results obtained with an engine thermal
model built using Simcenter Amesim
software.
“Using Simcenter Amesim, we now assem-
ble all engine subsystems in one model in
order to test controls strategies to assess
fuel consumption via co-simulation
between an Simcenter Amesim and
Simulink models,” says Xin. “We can not
only analyze the fuel efficiency of our
existing architectures, but also capitalize
and re-use the same model to optimize
current designs.
“With Simcenter Amesim, we have reduced
our development costs significantly
because we no longer need to use a test
bench to validate our controls strategies.”
DFCV models the Rankine cycle loop using the two-phase flow library
of Simcenter Amesim.
Taking the lead with energy recovery
concepts
To stay in the global fuel-efficiency race,
DFCV is currently investigating innovative
energy recovery technologies such as a
Rankine cycle-based system.
The Rankine cycle concept requires even
more complicated controls strategies and
its behavior must be analyzed separately at
first, and then integrated into the complete
vehicle simulation model to assess the
system performance on multiple driving
cycles.
“We believe that our simulation approach,
supported by Simcenter Amesim, contrib-
utes strongly to our future competitiveness,”
says Xin. “Our research and development
activity around the Rankine cycle technol-
ogy wouldn’t be possible without the
two-phase flow library of Simcenter
Amesim as well as other predefined and
validated multi-domain Simcenter Amesim
components, which allow us to analyze the
effect of this innovative approach under
real driving conditions before the first
prototype has been produced.”
Solutions/Services
Simcenter Amesim
“ Our research and development
www.siemens.com/plm/
simcenter-amesim activity around the Rankine cycle
Customer’s primary business
With eight plants and
technology wouldn’t be possible
28,000 employees, Dongfeng
Commercial Vehicle is China’s
without the two-phase flow
leading manufacturer of
medium-duty and heavy-duty
trucks.
library of Simcenter Amesim…”
www.dfmc.com.cn Zhang Xin
Controls Engineer
Performance and Controls Section
Customer location
Engine Development Department
Wuhan DFCV Technical Center
China

“ Our research and

development activity around
the Rankine cycle
technology wouldn’t be
possible without the two-
phase flow library of
Simcenter Amesim as well as
other predefined and
validated multi-domain
Simcenter Amesim
components, which allow us
to analyze the effect of this
innovative approach under
real driving conditions
before the first prototype
has been produced.”
Zhang Xin Performing co-simulation with models utilizing Simcenter Amesim and the Simulink® environment
Controls Engineer allows DFCV to save testing time.
Performance and Controls
Section
Engine Development
Department
DFCV Technical Center

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