Driveline Optimisation of a Heavy Duty Truck 2007-01-3698

Fuel consumption for heavy trucks depends on many factors like roads, weather, and driver behavior that are hard for a manufacturer to influence. However, one design possibility is the power-train configuration. Here a new simulation program for heavy trucks is created and the configuration of the power-train that gives the lowest fuel consumption for each transport task is selected based on the simulation results. In this work, the operational conditions have been considered i.e. load, pavement, transmission efficiency and the building characteristics of the engine map, transmission, frontal area, tire. In this paper, we present a simulation software that enables a vehicle manufacturer or a customer to choose the right driveline for the customized application, depending on the acceleration and the fuel economy needs. The simulation program has been developed and formatted in Microsoft Excel© using Visual Basic Application which is a very user friendly and powerful tool and can be associated with Web based application. The web based application enables customers across the globe to select the right driveline and place an order for the truck online.