Solve thermal management challenges in heavy equipment design

Heavy equipment – specifically, machines used in mining, agriculture, construction, and materials handling – is rapidly growing in complexity. As off-highway vehicles become more advanced and more capable, thermal management is a growing challenge. In addition, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are under pressure to deliver new solutions ever more quickly and at lower costs.

The way forward requires an integrated simulation software solution encompassing system simulation, full computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, and a hybrid system-CFD approach. In this whitepaper, learn about the thermal management simulation solutions that can benefit OEMs by enabling the development of high-performance heavy equipment more efficiently than ever before.

Benefits of Systems Simulation in Heavy Equipment Pre-Design

Using system simulation solutions has several core benefits; The most obvious of these is speed. From a thermal management perspective, system simulation enables a complete analysis of how components will react and behave in the face of several different thermal inputs such as cabin environment and engine temperature. This allows designers early reliability analysis on all parts, enabling them to accurately size critical components and spot potential issues very early in the design process. Without using a system simulation software solution, developers will find it a particularly challenging and lengthy process to do even fundamental thermal management analysis before the prototyping stage.

Embedded CFD Validation

In addition to using system simulation results for functional pre-design, using an embedded CFD approach can gain further benefits. Leading research and development (R&D) departments at heavy vehicle manufacturers are steadily moving away from a purely linear system and are adopting a method that uses different types of simulations concurrently. Embedded CFD is a solution that captures the physics, giving a faster turnaround so that other engineers can start work on other machine elements far sooner than would previously have been possible. Ultimately it leads to more rapid overall validation of the complete machine design.

Electrification Solutions for Off-Road Equipment

The significant growth area of electrified heavy machinery presents a slightly different set of cooling challenges. The engine itself produces less heat, so more complex power source architectures necessitate focusing on components such as inverters. At the same time, battery thermal management can also be particularly challenging in an electric vehicle. Additionally, keeping cabin temperatures comfortable for machinery operators while minimizing energy usage provides an additional challenge for electrified heavy equipment. A system simulation solution can help as analysis can show precisely how different scenarios will impact battery capabilities to provide the necessary power for appropriate thermal management solutions.

Download the white paper to learn how a modern approach to thermal management simulation for heavy equipment needs to incorporate system simulation, hybrid or embedded CFD, and full CFD to radically improve the competitiveness of heavy equipment OEMs.