News

Watch the expert discussion: CO2-avoidance as a driver of technological innovations

Posted on 18th March 2022

filmed at CTI Symposium 2021 in Berlin.

Put your expertise on stage at CTI Symposium Berlin 2022

Posted on 11th February 2022

The automotive industry is in the accelerated process of transformation towards electric mobility. Many manufacturers have clear intentions to only offer electric vehicles in leading markets within 10 to 15 years. Sustainable energy production, charging infrastructure and costs remain challenging. Nevertheless, companies have been restructuring their R&D departments and are now focusing on BEV and FCEV drives as well as their components.

To remain successful, an interdisciplinary exchange between automobile manufacturers and suppliers at all levels is necessary. The CTI SYMPOSIA are intended for all system and component suppliers, manufacturers of passenger cars and commercial vehicles, engineering service providers and software developers, as well as market specialists.

We look forward to your presentation proposals for our 21st CTI SYMPOSIUM in Berlin: Call for papers 2022

 

Best regards

Prof. Dr Ferit Küçükay
Chairman of the Symposium

Event Report 20th CTI Symposium Germany

Posted on 12th January 2022

Do we need plug-in hybrids, or are they an interim solution at best? At the 20th CTI Symposium „Automotive Drivetrains Intelligent Electrified“, that was just one of the topics up for lively and controversial discussion. One important factor here will be which ‘green’ energy sources will be available at all.

Flashback 20 Years CTI Symposium

Posted on 21st December 2021

Watch our introductory video from CTI Berlin 2021 to see the highlights of 20 years of CTI Symposium Germany.

 

Video 20th CTI Symposium Germany

Posted on 10th December 2021

Watch Prof. Dr. Ferit Küçükay´s , chairman of the symposium, welcome address on the occasion of the 20th birthday of the CTI Symposium Germany.

Punch Powertrain launches E-Propulsion Technology Kit

Posted on 1st December 2021

Modular EV-solutions for sustainable mobility

Berlin, Tuesday, 30 November 2021 – During the yearly CTI Symposium in Berlin, Punch Powertrain launches its E-Propulsion Technology Kit, offering automobile producers an exceptionally wide range of e-drive configuration options. This approach enables customers globally to compose customized e-propulsion applications to meet their business and consumers’ needs.

The features in the E-Propulsion Technology Kit are a result of thorough product innovation, specifically in the field of sustainable powertrain technology. The kit consists of building blocks of an Electric Drive Unit (EDU): a transmission, electric motor and power electronics, which are highly scalable and modular, and can be applied by customers either separately or as part of an integrated system.

The ingenious integration of the building blocks delivers state of the art efficiency with optimized functionalities, weight, and costs. Such versatile and customer-oriented approach offers infinite customization possibilities.

In response to sustainability objectives, the global demand for electrically powered vehicles is rapidly increasing. Worldwide, governments are imposing regulations to guide the transition from traditional internal combustion engines towards electric engines. By 2035 most vehicles will be bound to be powered purely electrically or driven at least by a (plug-in) hybrid solution.

By offering seamlessly integrated combination options, Punch Powertrain is able to deliver solutions for a broad market and to vehicle manufacturing plants globally. The modular building blocks can be tailored to all types of electric vehicles in the automobile sector for both commercial and personal mobility purposes. Ranging from small vehicles such as passenger cars, SUVs or high-performance sports cars, to delivery vans, and even trucks, agricultural and industrial vehicles with a weight of up to 44 tonnes. By selecting the different ‘bricks’ to suit their demands in terms of transmission, e-motor, and inverter, clients can build a highly customized integrated drive system.

Punch Powertrain has a strong track record in designing and manufacturing automatic and hybrid transmissions, including integrated electric propulsion systems, and dedicated single speed transmission units. In addition, they have acquired vast expertise in the field of inverters. The fully in-house developed and integrated technologies are characterized by high efficiency, compactness, and top-level performance. The Punch Powertrain E-Propulsion Technology Kit is composed of cutting-edge technology sub-components such as highly scalable e-motors and associated power electronics that meet a broad specification range.

“By combining this extensive in-house transmission experience with EV technology, we are able to configure and size EDUs in a highly flexible and agile way, which positions us as a preferred partner to our customers”, says Sebastien Mazoyer, Head of Business Unit Electric Vehicles at Punch Powertrain. “This cutting-edge design process results in highly power dense, efficient and future-proof solutions that at the same time ensure a deeper level of integration between the e-motor, inverter and transmission. A feature that really differentiates Punch Powertrain’s E-Propulsion Technology Kit from other approaches”.

In addition to fully integrated propulsion solutions, Punch Powertrain also delivers transmissions and inverters as individual subsystems to automobile manufacturers who assemble their own e-drive systems.

About Punch Powertrain
Punch Powertrain nv is an independent global automotive supplier of innovative and energy efficient drivetrains. The company builds on 49 years of excellence in the development and production of world-class transmission technologies, offering continuously variable transmissions (CVTs), dual clutch transmissions (DCTs), as well as hybrid and electric drivetrains for car makers worldwide. Punch Powertrain is headquartered in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, and has close to 2,000 employees. The company operates five R&D centers and three manufacturing facilities in Europe and China. For more information visit www.punchpowertrain.com.

Press contact: Olga Frantseva – Mobile: +32 486 76 83 25 olga.frantseva@punchpowertrain.com – www.punchpowertrain.com

TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE ELECTRIC-POWERED FUTURE

Posted on 25th November 2021

Innovative and cost-effective solutions for a new generation of vehicles – shape the Future with Feintool.

Feintool masters the technologies needed to manufacture electric drive systems – whether battery or hydrogen-powered. We develop and produce components that will be used in the next generation of vehicles.

Feintool is a highly regarded partner for trendsetting solutions and cost-effective innovations. Alongside fineblanking and forming, our core areas of expertise are incredibly diversified. We also specialize in engineering and manufacturing high-precision rotor and stator stacks and bipolar plates, which are needed not only in the field of e-mobility but also in industrial applications, power generation, power distribution, as well as in transportation and robotics.

Our mission is to shape the transformation towards a new era of mobility with our key technologies. Feintool supports and guides its customers as an experienced and reliable supplier to ensure that this transformation will be successful. We have the expertise to apply our innovative capabilities to the challenges that lie ahead – in a cost-effective, precise, and timely manner. We always stay one crucial step ahead – take this step with us.

PRECISION PARTS FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF VEHICLES

E-mobility requires materials and technologies to meet both new and high demands. Our products are the keys to success in this respect, because they are built for maximum competitiveness and cover a wide range of applications. We offer the right solution no matter the quantity. In combination with our services along the entire value chain, we give our customers that crucial competitive edge.

THE CHANGING FACE OF DRIVE TECHNOLOGY

 Our key technologies enable a mix of drive systems – for vehicle systems today and for systems that will be installed in vehicles ten years from now and beyond. Over the past few years, we have solidified our market leadership in the technological development of our products. Feintool maintains a presence in every market in which our customers conduct business.

Overview of Feintool’s e-mobility product range

ELECTROLAMINATION STAMPING

Cutting technology for the drive technology of tomorrow

Electrolamination stamping technology from Feintool is synonymous with long-lasting functionality and convenient safety. When large quantities and maximum quality are required for demanding applications, our electrolamination components play a decisive role. As a specialist for electrolaminations and sheet stacks, we guide our customers from the initial idea to profitable series production, be it for smaller volumes or demand-driven large-scale production.

The perfectly harmonized processes consistently meet the most stringent requirements and guarantee optimum results – with zero tolerance for errors. Feintool’s vibrant culture of innovation creates the conditions that enable the company to cost-effectively manufacture even highly complex stacks.

«The punching process in high-volume production is a complex and high-precision mission that has a direct impact on the efficiency of an electric motor. Through our comprehensive range of products and services, we support our customers from their first contact with our company all the way through to delivery.» Steven Wystrach, Technician/Designer, Feintool Jessen

FEINFORMING

Key technology for the production of bipolar plates

The bipolar plate is the core of the fuel cell. Where other manufacturing processes reach their limits, our key technology of «FEINforming» lays the foundation for a new level of fuel cell drive efficiency. High-precision machining of extremely thin materials enables the production of low-volume, low-weight bipolar plates. This results in increased power density in the cell stack for long-range, compact vehicle drive systems.

«FEINforming» – a combination of our core competencies of fineblanking and forming – delivers all the properties that are of key importance to the future viability of the bipolar plate. This is how we are supporting the transformation to sustainable e-mobility with cutting-edge press and process expertise.

«A deep understanding of bipolar plate requirements coupled with extensive system engineering and tool making expertise: This is our recipe for success in achieving a new level of fuel cell drive efficiency.» Peter Roth, Product Manager, Feintool Lyss

FB ONE – MADE FOR E-MOBILITY

A new dimension of fineblanking and FEINforming

The electrification of mobility means that production systems have to meet new requirements. The FB one series from Feintool marks a quantum leap in fineblanking technology. This press generation sets new standards in terms of performance, energy efficiency, speed, and repeat accuracy. We get the opportunity to cut more precisely, all while using less energy. The FB one series is Feintool’s technological answer to the challenges of the future.

«We have the basic conditions required to cost-effectively manufacture components of variable technologies for e-mobility in scalable quantities.» Knut Zimmer, CEO Feintool

GLOBAL COMPETENCE – LOCAL PRESENCE

We are a global technology company operating in the fields of fineblanking, forming, and e-sheet stamping with proven expertise. It is our mission to continuously expand technological horizons and develop intelligent solutions for our customers. We therefore create fineblanking systems with innovative tools and offer complete processes for high-precision fineblanked, formed, and electrolamination components. The company is specialized in the production of large quantities for demanding industrial applications.

Feintool was established in 1959 and has its headquarter in Lyss, Switzerland. With around 2,600 employees at 16 locations on three continents, we are always close to our customers

Feintool.com

Discover Emotors, the electric drive units’ manufacturer that serves the automotive industry with competitive, efficient and high quality products.

Posted on 25th November 2021

Emotors is an independent electric powertrain manufacturer addressing the automotive global market. The company was formed in 2018 in France, as a joint venture between two leaders of the automotive market: Stellantis Group (4^th world car manufacturer) and Nidec Group (1^st world electric motor manufacturer). Through this strong collaboration and promising heritage, Emotors offers competitive, efficient and high quality products to the whole car industry.

Ranging from 25 kW to 250 kW, our electric drive units combine the advantages of integration and modularity. Through standardization and a smart platform approach, Emotors offers cost efficient and high quality solutions facilitating the adoption of electric vehicles.

Emotors employs 300 people working on advanced R&D and projects development. The company has commissioned in 2021 a brand new and multidiscipline test center near Paris. Leveraging on this strong expertise and modern validation facilities, Emotors develops high quality, cost competitive and efficient electric drive systems designed for all types of electrified vehicles — including mild-hybrid (MHEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV), battery & fuel cell electric vehicles (BEV & FCEV).

Our portfolio is made-up of the following products:

• 48V eDrive (25 kW power): for conventional vehicles, MHEV is a smart and competitive solution for CO2 emission reductions.
• Small power electric drive units (50-100 kW power range): based on a 150 mm diameter design and thanks to a very compact structure, this product family perfectly fits city car BEV applications as well as rear axle implementation for HEV, PHEV and 4-wheel drive BEV.
• Large power electric drive units (100-250 kW power range): autonomy on highway is a major criterion for the end user. Based on a single 210 mm diameter design and an innovative 6 pole motor architecture, Emotors’ electric powertrains provide outstanding efficiency at high speed.

Emotors produces its electric drive units at its manufacturing site near the German border, in the North East of France.

The company is committed to develop the future generation of hybrid and electric drive units, creating a portfolio of competitive, efficient and high quality powertrains that will answer the expectations of all the OEMs.

Why venting is needed to protect drivetrain components

Posted on 25th November 2021

The drivetrain is a vehicle’s muscle. During normal operation, components such as axles, transmissions, and power transfer cases undergo rapid differential pressure changes that can stress the seals and gaskets of their protective enclosures. These housings must have a way to exchange air with the environment while preventing the ingress of water, dirt, and debris that can harm lubricants and erode critical metal parts.

Drivetrain (also known as powertrain) venting performs this dual function: keeping out contaminants while equalizing air pressure in and around sealed enclosures. Venting is designed to help extend drivetrain life.

There have been significant improvements in venting technology in recent years. Innovative membrane vents developed specifically for powertrains by Donaldson are designed to deliver important advantages:

• Compact, standard sizes that reduce installation labor, time, and complexity;
• An oil-coalescing pre-filter to improve vent performance and functional life;
• Multiple attachment options for a wide scope of manufacturing requirements; and
• Core technology that can be modified for custom applications.

The Challenge of Differential Pressure

First, it’s helpful to review why differential pressure is a constant threat to drivetrains. Inside the sealed enclosure around an axle or transfer case, air volume expands and contracts as temperatures change—many times a day for a typical vehicle. When commuters start their cars on cold mornings and begin the drive to work, for example, friction in the drivetrain rapidly heats and expands the air inside sealed components. If heated vehicles encounter cold road conditions, conversely, heated air rapidly cools and contracts.

With enough force, differential pressure can deform the housing and compromise seals, admit contaminants, or allow undesirable fluid leaks. While, in theory, a simple opening in the housing would relieve pressure, a membrane vent provides a protective barrier while allowing the component housing to “breathe.”

Conventional Vent Design

For decades, the prevailing powertrain venting method has been threading a rubber or plastic vent breather tube from the component to a level above the water fording line, and ending the tube with a jiggle cap. The semi-closed tube functions much like a snorkel, allowing air exchange in and out.

The chief drawbacks of this solution have been the length of tubing and its complex installation. Requiring clips, clamps, wire harnesses, frame members, and tubes up to 3 m or more in length, routing involves considerable time and labor during manufacturing and service. Correct installation can be challenging and it can be difficult to standardize across different vehicle models. If the tube vent is not properly capped, oil aerosol can collect at the outlet and on nearby surfaces, producing the unwelcome drip visible on garage floors and parking lots.

Simple Direct-Attach Vents 

A newer alternative to breather tubes for powertrain venting is gaining adoption: a direct-attach vent. Donaldson has introduced two new powertrain vents (PTVs) that fit right into a drivetrain component: the Hose-Fit PTV, applied to the end of a vent tube or hose, and the Screw-Fit PTV, which screws into a powertrain component to provide a lower profile.

While the vents resemble simple plastic caps, inside is an advanced ePTFE membrane engineered to filter out dust, debris, and liquid contaminants. The membrane vent meets IP69K water ingress protection ratings. Because of their water-repellent properties, Donaldson vents help protect powertrains from water intrusion if the vehicle breaches the water fording line during operation.

The Donaldson PTVs reduce the length of venting hose from as many as 3 m to 5 cm or less, simplifying routing during installation. The Hose-Fit PTV is compatible with conventional vent tube connectors, so no modification is required. The alternative threaded Screw-Fit PTV attaches directly to housing and eliminates the short vent tube entirely.

Both the Hose-Fit and Screw-Fit powertrain vents from Donaldson have durable, automotive-grade construction, with secure caps that allow for fast and secure assembly. This design allows standardized installation across multiple vehicle models. Based on user feedback, standardized vents reduce the chance of errors during assembly, compared with conventional tubing, and support lean manufacturing principles.

Donaldson Powertrain Vents help protect critical components by keeping contaminants out and keeping oil in.

Importance of Membrane Protective Pre-Filters

To perform optimally, a direct-attach powertrain vent membrane needs to remain free of oil residue. The biggest threat to venting is heavy exposure to lubricants, which can cause a build-up of oil film that reduces permeability. For this reason, it is very important to design a coalescing pre-filter into the vent, to protect the main membrane from oil fouling.

Other vent manufacturers have used sorbent filter media for this coalescing pre-filter. Donaldson takes a fundamentally different approach, employing our proprietary oleophobic Synteq™ media. Sorbent filter media is known to wick oil and saturate, while Synteq media repels oil and, in fact, meets oil repellency ratings up to 8, per AATCC 188-1992.

By trapping maximum excess oil at the coalescing stage and shedding it back into the powertrain component, Donaldson’s proprietary pre-filter media supports high membrane vent performance and service life. Synteq is the same technology used in Donaldson’s Blue® lube filters, engineered for the heavy-duty engine industry. Donaldson has more than 100 years of experience in demanding vehicle filtration.

Customized Design and Integration

No two powertrain venting needs are exactly alike. To provide more versatility, Donaldson is the first to offer two direct-attach vent styles—the Hose-Fit PTV, which attaches to a vent tube or hose, and the Screw-Fit PTV, which threads into the powertrain component. Both can be readily integrated into most powertrain configurations.

In addition, Donaldson regularly modifies its core venting technology for custom applications, recently doing so with leading automotive and off-road OEMs. Multiple membrane options with varying permeability and water protection levels can be customized, as well as housing size, color, and integration methods. The company’s collaborative engineers and project managers are dedicated to meeting highly specialized customer needs, and they work closely with OEM teams throughout the design, testing, and implementation process.

Conclusion

Powertrain venting is crucial to the performance and reliability of a vehicle. Vents help protect components from harsh environments and mediate pressure changes that can stress housing seals and gaskets. A robust, oleophobic coalescing pre-filter has a direct impact on the life and performance of the main membrane vent.

An advanced powertrain vent design is available from Donaldson, a recognized leader in lubricant and vehicle filtration. The vents are available in compact direct-attach designs that can be modified for custom applications.

To manage manufacturing costs as well as the long-term performance of a powertrain, it is important to work with a partner that specializes in filtration—one that can help ensure seamless integration of advanced venting technology into the design of a powertrain system.

 

Author: Dustin Waller, R&D Project Engineer, Donaldson Integrated Venting Solutions, dustin.waller@donaldson.com

Anthropometric and demographic human related influence on automotive manual gearshift quality perception using artificial neural network

Posted on 22nd November 2021

Abstract. Due to the increasing development of automation in passenger vehicles, the demand of analyzing Human Factors & Ergonomics (HFE) influence has become mandatory for the global automotive industry. Regarding manual transmission gearshift quality perception, few studies are available in published literature today applying HFE-based methodologies to predict driver perception and satisfaction with a given manual gearshift system. On the other hand, due to the inherent complexity in analyzing and selecting all human variables that affect driver’s interaction with the vehicle and correlate against objective data of the system, such human-based methodologies have been neglected until now by the technical community. This article challenges the status quo which considers only objective variables and focusing on two HFE categories, Anthropometric and Demographic, and applies statistical methods with factor analysis to understand the relevance of each HFE variable before proposing a linear regression model and an artificial neural network (ANN) to correlate to real user’s perception. Considering the proposed approaches, the predicted ratings showed a clear higher weight adding the HFE variables, enhancing the current available objective-based methods. This clear improvement leads to a better understanding of how transmission systems changes may affect different populations and/or type of costumers’ satisfaction, supporting future Human-Vehicle Interface (HVI) researches.

Introduction

Recently, with the continuously increase in quality requirements imposed by global car market, gearshift quality perception for manual transmissions increased in importance, mainly due to its high linkage to driver’s somatic sensory system. However, on the other side of the equation, first interactions with a new gearshift system and its integration happen in a very advanced (and late) phase of the vehicle development, when any required design change is extremely long and expensive.

On the other hand, to perform such analysis in the early stages of the full vehicle development process, definitely, is a very complex task [1,2,3,4,6,7,8,10,14,17,18,19,20]. This complexity is due to that gearshift quality perception is affected by several variables like scratch during engagement phase, effort, harshness and precision, with great interaction with the anthropometry and driver’s expectations and driving style, being difficult to predict with existing models based just on objective variables (e.g. efforts, impulses, times, etc.). However, few studies considering some superficial HFE considerations to define its relationship with the objective variables during the process of gearshifting are available.

It is possible to find in the available literature several definitions about gearshift quality, but definetely all articles found lead to a very “wide” definition and has “evolved” in the last years mainly due to the more demanding market requirements [3,4,6,7,8,10,14,17,18,19,20]. And, since the pioneer study performed by M’Ewen [11] until most recent works, like the ones presented by Szadkowski [20] and Szadkowski and McNerney [21], the main concern was in the analysis of the influence of the maximum effort demanded to shift gears.

Applying this definition to the vehicle interface, the interaction between driver and vehicle is very wide and cannot be limited in studying only his/her contact with the gearshift lever inside the passenger compartment. However, take into consideration all interactions the drive may suffer while driving would demand a huge amount of time and more detailed and specific studies [6,7,8].

Exactly as cited by Robinette [17], reachability analysis is performed through a set of in-vehicle anthropometric studies, and must be the very first activity when designing the interior of a given vehicle [3,4]. In the available literature [9,10,12,17], all reachability analyses done in a vehicle just guarantee that, statically, a population of drivers is able to reach and operate its controls with comfort and without facing any difficulty. However, these sort of analyses do not consider the loads that, as for example, the gearshift system transfers to driver’s hand during a gear change.

Loads analyses are studied measuring the forces behavior in the lever knob during the entire gearshift, covering both selection and engagement phases [1,2,6,7,8]. After running these measurements, the gearshift engineer decides if a change is necessary to improve quality, without considering any HFE aspect.

 

Full article as PDF-Download

Edson Luciano Duque, PhD
General Motors South America, São Caetano do Sul – Brazil
edson.duque@gm.com

Suzimara Ducatti, PhD
General Motors South America, São Caetano do Sul – Brazil
suzimara.ducatti@gm.com

Plinio Thomaz Aquino Jr., PhD
Centro Universitário da FEI – Fundação Educacional Inaciana Pe. Sabóia de Medeiros, São Bernardo do Campo – Brazil
plinio.aquino@fei.edu.br