Analysis and Control of Torque Split in Hybrid Electric Vehicles by Incorporating Powertrain Dynamics

Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) energy management strategies usually ignore the effects from dynamics of internal combustion engines (ICEs). They usually rely on steady-state maps to determine the required ICE torque and energy conversion efficiency. It is important to investigate how ignoring these dynamics influences energy consumption in HEVs. This shortcoming is addressed in this paper by studying effects of engine and clutch dynamics on a parallel HEV control strategy for torque split. To this end, a detailed HEV model including clutch and ICE dynamic models is utilized in this study. Transient and steady-state experiments are used to verify the fidelity of the dynamic ICE model. The HEV model is used as a testbed to implement the torque split control strategy. Based on the simulation results, the ICE and clutch dynamics in the HEV can degrade the control strategy performance during the vehicle transient periods of operation by around 8% in urban dynamometer driving schedule (UDDS) drive cycle. Conventional torque split control strategies in HEVs often overlook this fuel penalty. A new model predictive torque split control strategy is designed that incorporates effects of the studied powertrain dynamics. Results show that the new energy management control strategy can improve the HEV total energy consumption by more than 4% for UDDS drive cycle.