Continental Engineering Companies UK (CES) are a number one automotive design consultancy and engineering companies supplier for electrical motors, inverters, PDUs and DCDCs. CES push boundaries, maximising energy density, minimising packaging quantity and element lots. Prospects all the time have very aggressive goal weights requiring extremely environment friendly cooling methods. That is the place modern packaging options develop into important in offering engineering options and assembly prospects’ necessities.
In CES’ newest challenge, the necessities to combine into the automobile energy prepare have been such that the one approach to obtain a design resolution was to mix the motor and inverter, using a novel cooling structure. This design meant that delicate inside castings with skinny partitions can be required and thus CES began wanting on the newest casting strategies and the companies that Sylatech present.
Sylatech was eager to show that its clear sheet reappraisal of sand-casting methodology may supply new alternatives for element design and was keen to fulfill the difficult goal of an ultra-lightweight motor-inverter housing with skinny forged wall thicknesses which can be nonetheless machinable.
A 3D idea was designed which then went via the usual CES laptop simulations and analyses primarily based on buyer necessities. As enhancements and efficiencies have been made, the housing design went via a number of iterations. As a part of this design loop, Sylatech carried out their casting simulations and have been capable of suggestions to CES in a optimistic design loop as a accomplished design was finalised.
Sylatech proposed a 100% (Voxeljet) sand printed resolution to make sure design flexibility was as free as potential all through the challenge life cycle. Having supported with casting Design for Manufacture, the corporate set about calculating and modelling a runner system with a relentless fill charge of 0.5m/sec. Commonplace options similar to a pouring basin and stopper, constrained sprue and runners, vortex traps (to seize the vanguard of oxide-rich aluminium) have been rapidly established, adopted by extra nuanced additions similar to 60PPI filters on all gates flowing into the mould cavity. Velocity, temperature, gate move strain and dendrite arm spacing simulations have been then modelled with Sylatech’s FLOW3D CAST software program.
Sylatech’s casting new product introduction (NPI) engineer favours this digital method to sample design. FLOW 3D allows exact understanding of how the metallic flows within the runner system and cavity. The selection of casting solely with sand printed moulds yields important design freedom however the draw back is that it leaves no room for error. Any casting defects would lead to costly re-prints. It’s due to this fact crucial that the NPI course of locations such a powerful emphasis on fill calculation and simulation verification. Thus, a complete of twenty-two iterations of runner system have been accomplished earlier than a last design freeze was agreed.
CES’ skill to make use of CFD, FEA and Thermal computational evaluation software program together with Sylatech’s casting evaluation software program was integral to the design course of to fulfill necessities, ‘proper first time’ and shortened deadlines. It’s crucial to have the ability to design, analyze/simulate, and experiment nearly in order that the completed design can meet the targets in actual world testing.
Complimentary to the software program analyses is the usage of non-destructive testing (NDT) on the pre-machined forged half. Radiography is good for expedited integrity checks, offering reside, nonetheless and video imaging which will be seen in actual time earlier than greenlighting the machining course of.
The ultimate housing design achieved round 64% weight saving from preliminary design to last product and is roughly 47% beneath the coolant strain drop requirement, but meets stress, vibration and fatigue targets. Early communication, cross celebration adoption of analytical strategies for design, manufacture and testing and on-going efficient collaboration have been essential to attaining these targets.
