Continental Engineering Providers UK (CES) are a number one automotive design consultancy and engineering companies supplier for electrical motors, inverters, PDUs and DCDCs. CES push boundaries, maximising energy density, minimising packaging quantity and part lots. Clients at all times have very aggressive goal weights requiring extremely environment friendly cooling methods. That is the place revolutionary packaging options turn into important in offering engineering options and assembly prospects’ necessities.
In CES’ newest undertaking, the necessities to combine into the car energy prepare had been such that the one approach to obtain a design answer was to mix the motor and inverter, using a novel cooling structure. This design meant that delicate inner castings with skinny partitions can be required and thus CES began wanting on the newest casting strategies and the companies that Sylatech present.
Sylatech was eager to reveal that its clear sheet reappraisal of sand-casting methodology might supply new alternatives for part design and was keen to satisfy the difficult goal of an ultra-lightweight motor-inverter housing with skinny solid wall thicknesses which are nonetheless machinable.
A 3D idea was designed which then went by the usual CES pc simulations and analyses based mostly on buyer necessities. As enhancements and efficiencies had been made, the housing design went by a number of iterations. As a part of this design loop, Sylatech carried out their casting simulations and had been in a position to suggestions to CES in a optimistic design loop as a accomplished design was finalised.
Sylatech proposed a 100% (Voxeljet) sand printed answer to make sure design flexibility was as free as potential all through the undertaking life cycle. Having supported with casting Design for Manufacture, the corporate set about calculating and modelling a runner system with a relentless fill fee of 0.5m/sec. Customary options similar to a pouring basin and stopper, constrained sprue and runners, vortex traps (to seize the vanguard of oxide-rich aluminium) had been shortly established, adopted by extra nuanced additions similar to 60PPI filters on all gates flowing into the mould cavity. Velocity, temperature, gate movement stress and dendrite arm spacing simulations had been then modelled with Sylatech’s FLOW3D CAST software program.
Sylatech’s casting new product introduction (NPI) engineer favours this digital strategy to sample design. FLOW 3D allows exact understanding of how the metallic flows within the runner system and cavity. The selection of casting solely with sand printed moulds yields important design freedom however the draw back is that it leaves no room for error. Any casting defects would lead to costly re-prints. It’s subsequently crucial that the NPI course of locations such a powerful emphasis on fill calculation and simulation verification. Thus, a complete of twenty-two iterations of runner system had been accomplished earlier than a ultimate design freeze was agreed.
CES’ skill to make use of CFD, FEA and Thermal computational evaluation software program at the side of Sylatech’s casting evaluation software program was integral to the design course of to satisfy necessities, ‘proper first time’ and shortened deadlines. It’s crucial to have the ability to design, analyze/simulate, and experiment nearly in order that the completed design can meet the targets in actual world testing.
Complimentary to the software program analyses is using non-destructive testing (NDT) on the pre-machined solid half. Radiography is good for expedited integrity checks, offering reside, nonetheless and video imaging which might be seen in actual time earlier than greenlighting the machining course of.
The ultimate housing design achieved round 64% weight saving from preliminary design to ultimate product and is roughly 47% beneath the coolant stress drop requirement, but meets stress, vibration and fatigue targets. Early communication, cross occasion adoption of analytical strategies for design, manufacture and testing and on-going efficient collaboration had been essential to reaching these goals.
