A Moment-of-Inertia-Driven Engine Start-Up Strategy for Four-Wheel-Drive Hybrid Electric Vehicles

During the moment-of-inertia (MoI) start-up process, an engine is cranked to ignite at 800 rpm with better fuel efficiency than at 250 rpm in the belt-driven start. As kinetic energy is employed, the work needed to crank the engine is also reduced. This article aims to develop an MoI-driven engine start-up method for a four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle. By modeling a 4WD hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) powertrain, a system dynamics model is developed into a state-space equation. The variable operating conditions of the engine and clutch are identified, and an adaptive model predictive controller (MPC) is designed. The goal of multioptimization is to control the engine speed trace, minimize the front and total axle torsion speed, and execute the torque demand. The optimization outputs are the engine torque set points, front electric motor (EM) torque set points, clutch nominal force set points, and rear EM set points. By predicting the engine fluctuation torque and considering the power source component constraints, an optimization algorithm is developed. This strategy is simulated and verified on the vehicle and powertrain models. The results indicate that the proposal achieves distinct fuel consumption improvement with an optimized drivability performance.