Dynamic Simulation of Mechatronic Systems

A growing number of safety systems are implemented in modern vehicles. Thereby vehicles become more complex and in succession the quantity of potential error causes is increasing. Numerical simulation and prototype tests are used to investigate vehicle behaviour and prevent aberrations at an early stage. However, prototype tests on full vehicle level are not feasible in early development stages. Numerical simulation is an effective tool reducing development time and costs, but hardware tests are still necessary to verify the simulation results. To handle these challenges in the development process new developing methods are necessary. In this paper an interface, which provides the implementation of control systems into finite element solvers is presented. This interface allows a more realistic behavior of these systems in numerical simulation. Thereby it is a useful tool, to design and adjust mechatronic systems, like integrated safety systems, at an early stage of the development process. This coupling method can also be used to check actuator configurations in substituted mechanical systems. Needed forces and accelerations are known before experimental testing, but disturbance variables cannot be pre-calculated. Therefore this method offers a possibility to verify, if the range of capacity of the actuator, the frequency and efficiency of the control algorithm are able to handle the prescribed behaviour. In order to consider the behavior of all systems in a close to realistic manner, associated control units must be built into the finite element model. This will be a prerequisite for the realization of an optimized mechatronic system configuration in future vehicles.