Innovative Electric Oil Pumps for Different Automotive Applications 2020-24-0022

The current market requires new electrical devices and shows a great level of uncertainty in terms of requirements and specifications. The development of these new components is also subject to the risk of technological recursion due to the high innovation level and development products have to cover the worst-case use scenarios and be modular as much as possible in order to adapt to an evolving context.

This paper is describing an innovative electric oil pump with BLDC motor and integrated electronic for automotive applications. Although this concept is already consolidated, it was upgraded in order to cover typical automotive temperature ranges by targeting high power density and reduced packaging, goals required by new powertrains layouts. Inside the power pack (motor + ECU), a calibrated oil recirculation circuit cools the integrated Engine Control Unit (ECU) and the motor. In this case, the heat generated is constantly removed and therefore the ambient temperature can arise up to 140°C without creating any problem to the electronic subcomponents. This power pack can be combined with different modular pumping elements (Impellers, Gerotor, Spur Gears, Balanced Spur Gears), based on required pressure levels in order to cover different applications. If the pump is assembled with Gerotor, it fits to the low Pressure requirements of the eAxle lubrication (either the rotor of the e_machine or the gears of the transmission). With Spur Gears, it actuates gearboxes, either for EV or for HEV applications (where the higher temperature due to ICE becomes no more a limit). The possibility to assembly gears with high efficiency is perfect for the high dynamic requirements of Torque Vectoring, where a higher-pressure level is needed.

A multi-variable validated simulation tools allows investigating different layouts and the use of a Neural Network provides in advance, with a good precision, the oil temperature level inside the pump.