Speeding Engine Simulation

According to Steve Sapsford, president of Ricardo Software (www.ricardo.com), its new engine-simulation software, WAVE-RT, can help speed the development of engines thanks to the accurate, real-time simulation that it provides. “WAVE-RT is a major step forward for engine design, opening new avenues for simulation-driven refinement and optimization of powertrain products for the ultra-low emissions and fuel economy challenges of tomorrow,” Sapsford said. “The CAE process benefits are also extremely compelling, enabling much looser integration of activity between powertrain and control engineers, potentially speeding up the process of global engine development significantly.”

WAVE-RT is applicable to both gasoline and diesel engines with turbochargers, intercoolers and EGR circuits. It provides accurate airflow simulation to allow development of such things as variable valve timing and lift control. Because individual cylinders are separately represented, complex control strategies such as close-loop combustion control can also be developed and validated, accounting for variations between cylinders from the different air paths, and associated variables, such as air mass and residuals or exhaust temperature. Because the wave propagation effects are fully captured, transient response of the model is closer to that of the real engine than mean-value engine models.

The WAVE-RT model is automatically generated from an existing high-resolution and previously validated donor WAVE engine model, so little calibration is needed to produce the real-time model. The speed of model generation enables the development of control strategies to begin at an early stage in an engine development program; it protects against delays arising from design changes.