Innovation corner

The automotive world is changing. In order to keep up with the challenges faced in the context of digitalization, Audi established the simulation of water in the development process. In the beginning of this century the Audi portfolio had five segments with different models. From year to year, new model lines were added to meet growing customer needs. Currently, the automotive industry is faced with new challenges in fulfilling the criteria for sustainability and climate neutrality, resulting in even more models with various new types of powertrains, such as hybrid or the e-tron.

PreonLab is successfully employed by Renault to validate and improve heat shield designs which guarantee that no flammable liquid gets in contact with hot parts of the engine. Testing on a real prototype is difficult since first the leakage itself has to be reproduced and secondly, hot liquids may be dangerous.

Thanks to the electrification of the powertrain, innovation in the automotive industry is happening faster than ever. Short time to market for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles (HEVs) is one key to be successful for OEMs and tier 1 suppliers.

These are challenging and exciting times for the automotive industry. In 2020 the current EU regulations that set CO₂ emissions standards for cars and vans will be replaced with stricter targets to be met by 2025, so innovative solutions are necessary to secure high mobility comfort at low emission rates. Our customer Volvo Car Corporation aims to have 50% of their annual sales come from fully electric vehicles.

Electric motors have high operating efficiency, but they also produce large amounts of heat. Removing this heat and keeping the motor at a prescribed temperature range is key for high performance and sustainability of the electric engine. Using our CFD solution PreonLab, a simulation enables engineers to analyze the lubrication and cooling efficiency resulting from a centrifugal liquid spray.