Automatic Generation of Design Space Conversion Maps and Its Application for the Design of Compound Split Hybrid Powertrains

Abstract

Most of the prior design studies on compound split hybrids focused on the selection of optimal configurations through evaluating their performance within the physical design space, i.e., powertrain configurations. However, the authors revealed that using the compound lever for the performance analysis dramatically reduces the design space as redundant configurations exist for a single compound lever design, resulting in computational load reduction. Nevertheless, using the compound lever results in the loss of information required to realize the given configurations as these two configurations are represented by two different sets of variables. The powertrain configuration is defined by two physical design variables, i.e., gear ratios of the two planetary gears. However, the compound lever design is defined by two nonphysical design variables, α and β, which are the vertical bar lengths between the output node (vehicle) and the two motor/generators' (MG) nodes. Thus, if the compound lever is used as a design tool, the selected designs should be converted into powertrain configurations. This paper introduces an automatic methodology to generate feasible powertrain configurations for any given compound lever using generic conversion equations that express the relationship between the nonphysical design variables, α and β, and the physical design variables, gear ratios. Conversion maps relating the 252 powertrain configurations to the compound lever design space were generated, and the results confirmed that the compound lever removes the redundancy existing in the physical design space.