Optimizing Shifting Schedule and Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation of a Hybrid Vehicle Based on Dual Clutch Transmission

The European Union legislation have introduced regulations on emission reduction for light duty vehicles. Therefore, economy remains a key challenge for automotive engineers. To enable a realistic dual clutch transmission (DCT) system performance evaluation, this paper main objective is development of an IPG Carmaker hybrid vehicle model connected to the testbed with an internal combustion engine by a hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) real time simulation, where the electric powertrain is virtual and it is defined in the application. The specific objective is to develop new shifting schedule of the DCT to optimize the performance of the vehicle. The working principle and dynamic characteristics of the DCT system are first explored. In the second part of the work, the strategy and simulation concern the major part of this work, in order to develop new gear shifting strategy algorithms to evaluate the fuel and electric current consumption over the homologation Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) driving cycle. Finally, the simulation results in the HIL environment were evaluated and presented. The constructed model is based on an existing hybrid vehicle. The model was simulated to obtain data regarding the vehicle performance, energy consumption and state of charge on the new WLTP test cycle.