Comparison of Various Hybrid Electric Powertrains for Non-Road Mobile Machinery Using Real-Time Multibody Simulation

Electrification of non-road mobile machinery holds immense potential for reducing the high emissions and fuel consumption of such industrial machinery. Detailed real-time physics-based simulation models capable of comparing energy efficiencies of hybrid powertrains in realistic working conditions can aid the development of efficient mobile machinery. In this study, four system-level hybrid electric powertrain models have been developed and coupled with a detailed multibody dynamics-based tractor model in a co-simulation environment. The four models, differentiated by their topology and transmission design, are simulated in a virtual environment under the dynamic load conditions of a ploughing work cycle of the Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft powermix. The simulation results show that improvements of 9.7% and 9.2% in total energy consumption can be achieved by the two studied power-split configurations in the simulated work cycle compared to an automated manual transmission-based series powertrain. The double planetary gear-based power-split model achieved the highest energy recovery and lowest energy loss compared to the other models. The developed models are real-time capable, allowing a human operator to simulate customizable work cycles.