Method for defining Hybrid Powertrain Architectures for Off-Highway Vehicles based on Power Flow Analysis

This paper presents a method for designing hybrid electric powertrain architectures for off-highway vehicles, based on the analysis of the power flows of the system during operation. For this purpose the conventional powertrain layout is first considered with its main components and their power absorption. The approach is based on efficiency maps or power losses of each component. Then, the duty cycle of such vehicles must be analyzed, defining the operation points for different type of work and then the working points of the vehicle components. After collecting insights from this analysis, many hybrid electric architectures can be made up, each one designed to improve the efficiency of the vehicles for a set of operating point conditions.