• Direct access to online information: KULI 17 now offers a search field directly in the toolbar.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​By entering a search string there you can quickly search in the KULI online manual, KULI online library, and KULI knowledge base. An overview of the search results is displayed with links to the relevant pages in the KULI online help.

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• Overview of initial temperatures: KULI 17 provides a quick way to figure out initial temperatures used in different components in a fluid circuit. The maximal and minimal initial temperatures are shown at the start of the simulation in the Output panel. And in KULI lab the initial temperatures of all components inside such a circuit can be found in a dedicated folder for each Dynamic solver circuit.

While the “electrification wave” has already caused severe “storm warnings” in the once so peaceful ocean of passenger cars, first ripples also show in the area of off-highway equipment. Both legislation and public opinion force all major equipment manufacturers to look more and more closely at alternatives to the combustion engine… and this means leaving well-established and -understood technology paths. This is especially true in the field of thermal management.

Just thinking about electric batteries, the global use of off-highway vehicles poses significant challenges:

• In hot climates batteries must not overheat. This would cause breakdown or at least significantly reduced lifetime… an absolute no-go in a business where reliability and low total costs of ownership are imperative!
• In cold climates batteries have to be kept warm enough to perform as designed and allow, for example, also fast charging.
• And all of the related heating and cooling must be done in a way which
  • has no negative impact on heating and cooling of the operator compartment and
  • is as energy efficient as possible.

Trying to achieve this via extensive testing is very hard:

• Many different target climate zones mean a huge number of individual tests
• Accurate and consistent testing can only be done within climate chambers. Large machinery will be even hard to squeeze in!
• High testing costs meet typically quite low production numbers of the final vehicles. In a cost-competitive environment this can be very challenging.

And this is where simulation can be extremely useful. Yes, you will still need some tests for calibration and validation of your models and no, I cannot recommend “purely virtual” vehicle development. But having to do only 4 test runs instead of 40 is a huge cost- and time-saver. Probably even a life-saver for some smaller companies.

Together with our colleagues from the cooling system developer and supplier Ymer Technology, we have put this claim to the test. We have set up a complete KULI simulation model for a current heavy duty electrified off-highway vehicle. Based on this, we investigated both steady state operating points, but also relevant transient test cycles… at different ambient conditions. And that is one of the good things about simulation: In a model it is just a click to switch from +45°C to 0°C and see what happens to your vehicle.

​​​​​​​Specifically, this allows you to investigate

• if temperature constraints are violated,
• where thermal bottlenecks in your system are and
• how you can optimize your thermal system controls to run your vehicle safely and efficiently.