Tutorials

Tutorial 3 - Automotive Powertrain

and Vehicle Simulation

Objective
This tutorial will lead you step by step to a powertrain model of varying Easy modeling of
complexity. powertrain
The start will form a simple engine model. The model then is extended to contain components
basic powertrain components (clutch, gears, wheels), the car mass, and driving
resistances in order to simulate processes such as the car starting up from zero
Observation of
speed. The third step of refinement leads to a model which allows simulating
results
different types of gearbox vibration phenomena. An outlook is given to further
possibilities of developing more detailed models. It is assumed that you are
familiar with the basic functionality of SimulationX.
Extending of models
Therefore, please refer to “Tutorial 1: Getting Started” for a general introduction
on how to select elements from the libraries, how to connect them and enter
parameters, how to run a simulation and how to open result windows.
Result analysis with
parameter variation

Part 1: Simulating Vehicle Acceleration Influence of several

1. Engine Modeling parameters

For accelerating a vehicle a very simple engine model will be sufficient. Usually
an engine is described in terms of the torque as function of the engine speed.
Create the SimulationX model shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Simple Engine Model

To rotate a model element, select the element with L-Mouse and choose
“Rotate Left” or “Rotate Right” from the “Elements” menu. You can also use
the buttons for this operation.
 Page 2 of 17

To change the label of an element, double-click on it to open the properties window. Use the dialog page
“General” to edit the name. Here you also have the possibility to position the label with respect to the
object.

Number of Library name Element name Symbol

elements Function
1 Mechanics/ Inertia
Rotational Mechanics Inertia of flywheel, clutch and gearbox input
shaft. Element for applying the engine torque
and for measuring the engine speed

1 Mechanics/ External Torque

Rotational Mechanics Speed-depended engine torque

1 Mechanics/ Sensor
Rotational Mechanics Engine speed measurement( flywheel
Sensor)

1 Signal Blocks/ Curve

Signal Sources Speed-torque characteristic

1 Signal Blocks f(x)

Container for a model parameter, which is to be
changed and is used in various model elements

Table 1: Elements contained in the engine model

Once you have succeeded in creating the model structure according to Figure 1, you have to enter the
parameters for the elements and have to activate the protocol attributes for the result variables which you
want to plot after the simulation:

Model Object Parameter Input

InitialSpeed In “Initial Speed” we define a model parameter, which shall be easily accessible and
which may be used in different model elements in the simulation. Because the
function-element only has a base quantity, we have to define the used value by a
string. This determines the unit of the parameter.
• Set the function f(x) to 800 rpm

Note that you can add a unit to a unitless parameter by attaching the unit name
enclosed in single quotes.

• Activate the protocol attribute for the Signal Output

Flywheel • Set the parameter “Moment of Inertia” to 0.35 kgm2 – a typical value for a
passenger car engine

• Enter a reference to the parameter F of the element “InitialSpeed” (InitialSpeed.F)

for the initial rotational speed of the flywheel

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• Activate the protocol attribute for “Rotational Speed” and change the unit of
measurement to “rpm”

EngineTorque • Assign the torque of the source to its signal input by entering the name of the input
(in1)

Torque_characteristic • Set the “Reference Value” to “Input x” in order to make the result (torque)
dependent on the input (engine speed)

• Open the curve dialog by click on the Edit button

• Define a name for the range and the domain of the curve, as well as the
corresponding physical domains and units of measurement by clicking on the

“Properties” – button

• Select for x “Mechanics(Rotary)/Rotary Velocity” with a unit “rpm”, and the name
“Speed”
• Select for y “Mechanics(Rotary)/Torque” with a unit “Nm” and the name “Torque

• Insert the following values

• Activate the protocol attribute for the “Signal Output”

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Table 2: Parameter Input

Now you are ready to perform a test run of your engine. In order to see it working open the result window
for the flywheel speed (select “Result Curve.../Rotational Speed” from the context menu of the flywheel
object) and start the simulation. You can see the speed increase until it reaches the maximum of 5000 rpm
defined in the torque characteristic (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Engine run-up from 800 rpm to the maximum of 5000 rpm

2. Powertrain Modeling
You now proceed to the remainder of the vehicle – gearbox (with one fixed gear), axle gear, wheels, the
mass of the car, and the driving resistance due to air drag and rolling friction. First reset your simulation,
and then build your powertrain model as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Complete powertrain model

Number of Library name Object name Symbol

elements Function
1 Mechanics/ Rigid Friction
Rotational Mechanics Modeling the clutch

2 Mechanics/ Gear
Rotational Mechanics The transmission ratios for the selected

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 Page 5 of 17

gear and the differential gear

1 Mechanics/ Rotational-Linear Transformation

Rotational Mechanics The Wheels

1 Mechanics/ Mass
Linear Mechanics The car mass

2 Mechanics/ External Force

Linear Mechanics Driving resistance – air drag and wheel
friction

Table 3: The following new objects are contained in the model

You can rename the objects as usual. Next the new model objects are parameterized.

Model Object Parameter Input

Clutch • In this rotary friction element the torque in the sliding state and the torque necessary
to break loose from the sticking state have to be specified. The break-loose torque
should be greater than the maximum torque deliverable by the engine, so we set it
to 300 Nm. The sliding torque is set to a smaller value. Choose 100 Nm in order to
make it as large as the torque of the engine at initial speed (800 rpm). Thus the
engine speed will remain constant until the clutch is fully closed.

• Activate the protocol attribute for the result variable “State of Friction” in order to
observe the behavior of the clutch element during simulation.

Gearbox • In “Gearbox” the gear ratio for the selected gear has to be given. We select the
transformer such, that the gear ratio calculates as the ratio of the rotary speeds
(kind is “Gear Ratio om1/om2”):

ω2
i=
ω1
The indices correspond to the respective connectors. The connector with the red
arrow is connector 1. Assume that the car has a gear ratio of 3.32 (83 and 25 teeth)
in first gear, then the following is entered in the parameter dialog:

Differential • The differential gear ratio is selected in the same way as the gearbox gear ratio. Take
the ratio 4, which is reasonable for a differential gear.

Wheel • Here we have to specify the translation of the rotary motion of the drivetrain to the

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 Page 6 of 17

translatory motion of the car. This transformation is performed in the wheels. As

for the gears, the ratio of the speed at the translatory connection (connected to the
car mass) to the speed of the rotary connection (connected to the differential) has
to be given. This is the ratio of wheel circumference (in meters) and the
corresponding angle 2 π (in ra
0.35 m the following has to be entered:

Note, that in our arrangement (Figure 3) the wheel is built in “in reverse”, connector 2
points towards the engine side, connector 1 towards the mass.

CarMass • The car shall have a mass of 1400 kg, which is entered in the parameter dialog of the
CarMass element

The initial values for displacement and speed should be set to zero (and fixed using
the blue pin in order to prevent the solver from altering it during the initial value
calculation) in order to simulate a start form zero speed and displacement.

• Activate the protocol attributes for the result values “Velocity” and “Acceleration”
and set the unit of measurement to km/h for the velocity.

AirDrag • When moving a car observes two important resistance forces: The air drag and the
rolling friction. The air drag calculates as

ρ *ν 2
FD = C d * A *
2
C d = 0.31 - air drag coefficient, A = 2.2m 2 - projective area of the car,
kg
ρ = 1.199 3
m - air density, ν - vehicle speed
Above formula can be entered directly into the parameter for the force. A special
property is exploited in order to derive the velocity needed for air drag calculation.
SimulationX provides the motion state variables (displacement, speed, acceleration)
as any other system parameter or variable. Using the corresponding element name
they can be accessed. In our example model we use the speed CarMass.v When
entering the values, note that all of them have to be given in SI base units (which is
the case here)

0.31*2.2*1.199*CarMass.v^2/2

RollingFriction • The second driving resistance is the force resulting from rolling friction, which is
almost constant over wide ranges of vehicle speeds. It is calculated as

FR = γ R * m * g
γ R = 0.01 - rolling friction coefficient (asphalt road),
m = 1400kg - car mass,

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m
g = 9.80665
s2 - gravity.
Again, we have to enter all values in their SI base units

Table 4: Parameter input

At this state, save the model, so that you can reuse it in Part 2 of the tutorial.
Now acceleration tests can be performed. Open the result windows for the clutch friction state, the car
mass speed, and the car mass acceleration. Set the simulation “Stop Time” (Menu “Simulation/Settings”)
to 5 s and “Start” the simulation.

You will see the curves shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5.

The curves are currently displayed in four windows. In order to form joint displays, click the colored marker
of the curve in the legend (upper right corner of the plot), drag it to the destination window (another result
display), and drop it by releasing the mouse button.

Figure 4: Clutch state and engine speed

The engine speed remains constant until the clutch is fully closed. Since you made the slipping torque as
large as the initial engine torque, the engine torque is fully used for car acceleration via the slipping clutch
and thus the engine remains at constant speed. After the clutch is engaged, the car accelerates until the
maximum engine speed is reached.

Figure 5 shows the car acceleration from zero speed to about 50 km/h. In the initial phase the clutch is
slipping and the car accelerates with constant acceleration. With the clutch closed the acceleration first
drops, since not only the vehicle mass, but also the flywheel inertia has to be accelerated now (the engine
gains speed). Acceleration stops when the engine speed has reached its maximum.

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Figure 5: Car velocity and acceleration

Next you will observe the acceleration in higher gears. As in real life higher gears are only selected with the
vehicle in motion at a high speed, so an initial speed has to be given to the car mass. In order to simulate
this acceleration, change the following parameters:

Model Object Parameter Input

Gearbox • You now assume being in e.g. 4th gear with a gear ratio 0.97:

CarMass • You will let the car start at 100 km/h – do not forget to change the unit of
measurement accordingly.

Table 5: Parameter changes

Now reset the simulation, set the simulation “Stop Time” (Menu “Simulation/Settings”) to 30 s and
“Start” the simulation again.

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Figure 6: Car velocity and acceleration when changing gears at 100 km/h

As one would expect, acceleration is lower than in the first example with the low gear. Once the top speed
for the gear is reached (here 170 km/h), acceleration ceases.
The last experiment performed with this example is the study of the air drag influence.

Before starting, freeze the speed and acceleration curves by pressing the
button in the toolbar of the result windows.

Model Object Parameter Input

Driving resistance • Change the air drag coefficient to a significantly higher value, we take 0.36 as an
example
(Air drag)

Table 6: Now the air drag is increased

After restarting the simulation you can observe the impact of the increased air drag – a slightly lower
acceleration, which causes the top speed to be reached almost 2s later.

Figure 7: Comparison of different air drag coefficients

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Part 2: Simulating Gearbox Noises

In the second part of the tutorial we will turn our attention to a more specialized problem – the analysis of
gearbox noises. There are two types of noise in the gearbox, which shall be studied here
• Rattling of teeth
• Whining of gearbox teeth under load.

The study of such effects requires a greater detail in the model. First you have to use another engine
model. Gearbox noises are excited by the unevenness of the engine rotation, which is caused by the
changes in the cylinder torque during compression and combustion. For the gearbox noises you need a
gear model which incorporates backlash (responsible for rattling) and considers gear stiffness and gear
meshing (the gear meshing can excite higher frequencies in the system which can be audible as gearbox
whining).

1. Teeth Rattle Simulation

You start from the model you saved earlier in Part 1 and replace some of the model components. Before
you start you can close the result windows in order to tidy up your workspace. Also, reset the simulation
first so that you can edit your model. Rearrange the original model (shown in Figure 3) such, that you
obtain the new model shown in Figure 8. You assume the gearbox to be a one-stage gearbox (i.e. there is
only one gear ratio between gearbox input and output shafts) as it is e.g. used in vehicles with front-wheel
drive.

Figure 8: Refined powertrain model

The following new elements appear in the model:

Number of Library name Object name Symbol

Elements Function
1 Power Transmission/ Combustion Engines
Motors and Engines
Engine model describing the influence of the
combustion process in each cylinder of the
provided torque by typical normalized functions
2 Signal Blocks f(x)

Provision of accelerator pedal and clutch pedal

signals to be fed into engine and clutch
1 Power Transmission/ Disc Clutch
Couplings and Clutches
Pedal-operated single-disk dry clutch

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1 Mechanics/ Inertia
Rotational Mechanics

Inertia of clutch disk and gearbox input;

auxiliary element for connecting the two
elements Clutch and Gearbox
1 Power Transmission/ Gear
Transmission Elements

Detailed model of a gear contact including

stiffness, damping and backlash

Table 7: New Elements

You can rename the new objects, as you like, in the sequel they will be called by the names shown in
Figure 8.

As usual, the model has to be parameterized – the new components have to be adapted and some of the
existing have to be modified. The required modifications are listed in the following table:

Model Element Parameter Input

Engine • For the parameterization of the engine you need to know the nominal power,
nominal speed and the number of cylinders. The nominal values appear at the
points of maximum power output of the engine. From the torque characteristic
used previously you can calculate the power curve by simply multiplying engine
speed and torque.
!! Do not forget to transfer the engine speed to rad/s units before the calculation !!
One observes that the maximum power output is reached at 4500 rpm and is
about 99 kW. The engine shall have 4 cylinders. So you enter in the parameters
dialog page 1:

Note that the limitation to 5000 rpm used in the simple model was an arbitrary
assumption about the engine control and the engine element used here runs up to
higher speed. In order to achieve the same behavior a maximum speed control
could be implemented. For the experiments performed in the sequel this is not
essential so you omit this.
In parameters dialog page 2:
• Set the engines torque to 0.35 kgm2 (before in flywheel)

• Link the initial speed to “InitialSpeed.F”

AcceleratorPedal The engine element behavior is controlled by a normalized signal between 0 (no
acceleration signal) and 1 (full acceleration). You will perform our experiment with
full acceleration, i.e., a 1 is entered in the parameter dialog:

Clutch For the clutch parameterization you select typical values of a passenger vehicle
clutch, which matches to the torque output of the engine. The clutch shall be a
single-disk dry clutch, i.e., you have 2 friction surfaces. Reasonable settings for the
remaining parameters are:
– Outer diameter: 220 mm
– Inner diameter: 130 mm

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– Static friction value: 0.8 (this is higher than typical values, but we do not want
the clutch to slide due to torque peaks once it is closed)
– Sliding friction value: 0.2
– Press-on force: 8000 N
All other values remain at their default settings as indicated in the parameter
window. The parameters are set in the “Parameters” section of the window:

On page ‘Free Definition 1’:

ClutchActuation As well as the engine, the clutch is actuated by a normalized signal – 0 for open and 1
for closed. If the signal changes from 0 to 1 the clutch closes automatically, controlled
by the setting of the “Force Engaging Time” parameter of the clutch (we left it at the
default setting). In order to allow the engine to gain some speed before the clutch is
closed, you switch the actuation signal at 0.1s. The easiest way to perform this is the
exploitation of a logical expression. The expression if t>0.1 then 1 else 0 elegantly
defines a signal, which starts at 0 and changes its value to 1 at time 0.1s. This is
entered in the parameter dialog of the signal block

Clutch_Gears •Set the parameter “Moment of Inertia” to 0.01 kgm2 (representing the clutch disk
and the engine-side gearbox parts, but being mainly an auxiliary node):

•Verify that “Initial Velocity” is set to zero:

Gearbox • In this model object you can set a multitude of parameters and have a variety of
choices how the stiffness, damping, and tooth engagement are specified. For our
simple experiment you leave all parameters at their defaults apart from the
number of teeth for the two gear wheels and the backlash. These numbers are
selected that they result in exactly the same gear ratio as used for the first gear in
the model in Part 1 of the tutorial:
– No. of Teeth, Wheel 1: 25
– No. of Teeth, Wheel 2: 83
Further, specify a backlash of 0.1 mm

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•Make sure, that the “Consideration of Stiffness Change” is not marked. This option
will be used in a later experiment.

•Now go to the “Results” page of the parameter window and enable the protocol
attribute for the normal forces on the tooth surfaces

Differential •The detailed gearbox object behaves like a real set of gears. Consequently, the
output shaft rotates in reverse direction compared to the input shaft. This was not
the case in the simple vehicle model, i.e. with the new setup the vehicle would
actually move backward. Since the air drag and rolling resistance settings only
hold for a forward movement, you have to compensate for the inverted direction
of rotation.

This is conveniently achieved in the differential by changing the sign of the gear
ratio

CarMass •Make sure that you reset the car’s initial velocity to zero (it might have another
value from earlier experiments)

and that the protocol attributes for speed and acceleration are enabled

Table 8: Model Element Parameter Input

You are now ready to run your simulation. For this set the simulation stopping time to 5 s and the “Min.
Output Step...” (dtProtMin) to 0.0001 s. This will ensure that higher frequency components get displayed
properly too.

Open the result windows for the “Rotatory Speed” of the engine and the teeth forces of the gearbox.
After running the simulation you will see the results displayed in Figures 9 to 10.

It is clearly visible, that the engine speed first increases until the clutch starts to close. Then the speed is
decreased again until the clutch is fully closed, whereby the car starts to move due to the friction torque
transmitted by the clutch. Once the clutch is fully closed, the whole setup accelerates. Looking at the forces
at the teeth one observes that there is a normal force on the left as well as on the right tooth surface. Since
there is a backlash in the gearbox, this means, that the gears rattle. Rattling starts first after the clutch is
closed and then shows a resonance at about 2700 rpm. It ceases above engine speeds of 3300 rpm.

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Figure 9: Flywheel speed

Let us now have a closer look at the rattling process. For this track the marker in the legend from one of
the force windows into the other in order to form a joint display of the two forces. Next enlarge the view
that you can see a section in the resonance range. Either click the magnifying glass and zoom into the
desired area or choose the “Settings” dialog, go to the “X-axis” window, deselect the option “Automatic
Scaling”, enter 1.8 s and 1.83 s as “Min” and “Max” values, and set the number of “Ticks” to 3.
Now you see the curves shown in Figure 12. Obviously, the gears are in contact (i.e. there is a normal
force) intermittently. In-between there is a period where the gears rotate relative to each other and there
are no normal forces at all since there is no contact.

Figure 10: Normal force to the right tooth surface (driving side)

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Figure 11: Normal force to the left tooth surface

Figure 12: Normal forces in higher resolution, showing teeth rattle

Looking at the period of the force signals (the repeating peaks are 11 ms away from each other) you can
easily identify the reasons for the teeth rattle. Since you have a four-cylinder engine, there are two ignitions
per revolution. At about 2800 rpm these impulses appear at a frequency of 93 Hz and thus are about 11
ms away from each other.

You can measure curve points (and thus periods in this example) by selecting the desired curve in the
legend (it gets marked with a triangle) and clicking with the left button into the diagram and holding it. A
hair cross appears, which has the same x-coordinate as the mouse pointer and is placed on the curve. The
current point coordinates are shown in the toolbar. Moving the mouse you obtain the coordinates of
other curve points.

This is an example of an unwanted gearbox behavior. In a car design using SimulationX you would have
spotted the problem at an early design stage and would have been able to take appropriate counter-
measures.

2. Analysis of gearbox whining

You will now make a change to the gearbox, which allows observing another type of gearbox noises – the
whining – which is excited by the teeth meshing. In order to perform this simulation, you leave the model
as it is and change only one parameter:

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Element Parameter Input

Gearbox • Mark the checkbox for the “Consideration of Stiffness Change” in the parameter
dialog

This will lead to a stiffness, which depends on the actual number of teeth engaged
and the degree of engagement. This stiffness variation is periodic with the gear
meshing frequency and can lead to the excitation of vibrations in the powertrain.

Table 9: Changes in gearbox parameters page “Parameters”

For the simulation you have to scale the output window (as used in Figure 12) along the force direction.
Disable the “Automatic scaling” on the “Y-axis” page of the “Settings” dialog and enter a maximum force
of 60000 N. The number of “Ticks” has to be changed to 7 accordingly.

Reset your simulation now and run it again. After a while you will see the force curves of the selected time
interval appearing in the result window. The result is displayed in Figure 13.

Figure 13: Normal forces in higher resolution showing teeth rattle and whining

Obviously, there is now a component with a considerably higher frequency. Measuring the distance
between neighboring peaks one finds approximately 0.85 ms, i.e. 1.18 kHz as the fundamental frequency.
In order to confirm that the gear meshing causes it, you can calculate the meshing frequency, which is 25
teeth per engine rotation. It gives at an engine speed of 2800 rpm about 1.18 kHz.

Conclusion
Now you are free to experiment with the simulation models and change parameters or extend the models
to greater detail. This might include inertia, stiffness, and damping of different shafts in the powertrain, the
description of tire behavior, or a detailed engine model reflecting the inertia, stiffness, and damping of the
crankshaft, the mass forces of the piston, and models for the combustion process. You can build many
detailed elements such as a Cardan shaft or various detailed cylinder and engine models with the
TypeDesigner which can be added to the type collection in the SimulationX libraries. So you have the
flexibility to make your model as detailed as required for your simulation and analysis tasks.

Let us finally resume the goals, which you should have reached in this tutorial
• You now know how to construct car and powertrain models for different simulation goals. The more complex model
elements usually come with a set of default parameters, which you often can leave unchanged. Nevertheless, you should
always think about the correctness of the parameters you use in order to ensure, that the model accurately maps the reality.
• You have learned about various methods to parameterize objects – not only numbers, but also mathematical formulas and
logical expressions. Further, you now know how to access other variables and parameters by referencing to the
corresponding quantities.

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• You are able to use signal blocks for making multiply used variables available, such as common parameters of several
objects, and you know how to assign physical meanings and units to signals.
• You have seen that the amount of detail in the model grew with the complexity of the effects, which were to be observed.
This is worth a consideration in every simulation. Growing complexity in a model increases the overall simulation time. So
the model should always be only as complex as it is necessary in order to map the effect to be observed.
• SimulationX is a tool for intuitive system simulation, since models with mixed physical domains (in our examples
mechanics and control systems) can be built very quickly.
• The object-oriented approach of SimulationX allows you to modify a given model structure very easily and adapt it to new
tasks and specifications.
• SimulationX models clearly reflect the structure of the underlying physical systems, so you always see your real world
problem when looking at the model.

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