The blog explores the application of a high-fidelity 3-tool coupling simulation workflow to the automotive cabin for energy and human thermal comfort analysis. The automotive cabin is a dynamic system that requires a comprehensive analysis of the vehicle thermal state, the vehicle control system response, and the occupant thermal state in order to meet industry requirements for cabin and HVAC system analysis.
Typical requirements are:
- High-accuracy local temperature predictions in the cabin
- The ability to model system performance as a function of the dynamic vehicle state during a drive cycle
- The ability to extract energy consumption data (HVAC load, cabin heat distribution)
- The ability to predict occupant comfort
Meeting these requirements requires a coupled, multi-physics simulation methodology. For this reason, the high-fidelity 3-tool coupling workflow is becoming the standard for high-accuracy, transient cabin simulations.
3-Tool Coupling for Cabin Systems
The 3-tool coupling simulation workflow for predictive cabin simulation is coupling between TAITherm, a CFD solver, and a 1D system modeling tool or FMU. TAITherm provides comprehensive heat transfer modeling including human thermal comfort predictions. A preferred CFD solver is integrated to provide accurate convection modeling for the cabin interior. Finally, the 1D system modeling tool solves the dynamic vehicle state and control system response during the drive cycle. CoTherm automates the coupling process and facilitates the passing of information between the tools.
Image generated by: Gemini
