Patent Application
20240018895
The present disclosure relates to the technical filed of vehicles, and particularly to a vehicle and a thermal management control method and device therefor, and a storage medium.
In related art, a thermal management control method for an engine of a vehicle adjusts the opening of a thermostat, the rotating speed of an electronic water pump, and the rotating speed of a radiator fan according to the priority from high to low, so as to meet the heat dissipation requirements under various working conditions. However, the problem of how to make the thermal management system have the minimum power consumption while ensuring the engine does not suffer from local overheat during a warm-up process of the engine is not considered.
In view of the above technical problems, a first aspect of the present disclosure provides a thermal management control method for a vehicle, which avoids the local overheat of an engine and allows a thermal management system to be in a minimum power consumption state by controlling a water pump to periodically switch between a start state and a stop state, when the engine is in a warm-up mode of a high power and a low vehicle speed.
A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.
A third aspect of the present disclosure provides a thermal management control device for a vehicle.
A fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle.
In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for controlling thermal management of a vehicle. The vehicle includes an engine and a thermal management system. The thermal management system includes a water pump. The engine and the water pump are connected to form a first cooling circulation. The method includes: controlling the water pump according to a current temperature of the engine, a total engine power, and a current vehicle speed. In response to that a current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to a temperature threshold, a total engine power is greater than or equal to a power threshold, and a current vehicle speed is less than or equal to a vehicle speed threshold, controlling a water pump to periodically switch between a start state and a stop state.
When the current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to a preset temperature threshold, the total engine power is greater than or equal to a preset power threshold, and the current vehicle speed is less than or equal to a preset vehicle speed threshold, the engine is considered to be in a warm-up state of a high power and a low vehicle speed. By controlling the water pump to periodically switch between a start state and a stop state, the local overheat of the engine is avoided and the thermal management system is allowed to be in a minimum power consumption state.
In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, which is executable by a processor to implement the thermal management control method according to the embodiment in the first aspect.
In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a device for controlling thermal management of a vehicle. The thermal management control device includes a processor, and a storage connected to the processor, where the storage stores a computer program including program instructions, and the processor is configured to execute the program instructions to implement the thermal management control method according to the embodiment in the first aspect.
In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a vehicle. The vehicle includes an engine and a thermal management system. The thermal management system includes a water pump, an air-cooling radiator, a thermostat, and a thermal management control device according to the embodiment in the third aspect.
Some of the additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will be given in the following description, some of which will become apparent from the following description, or may be learned from practices of the present disclosure.
100, vehicle; 110, engine; 120, thermal management system; 121, water pump; 122, air-cooling radiator; 123, thermostat; 124, thermal management control device; 124a, processor; and 124b, storage.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below, and examples of the embodiments are shown in accompanying drawings, where the same or similar elements or the elements having the same or similar functions are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals throughout the description. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are to explain the present disclosure, and cannot be construed as a limitation on the present disclosure.
A vehicle 100, and a thermal management control method and a thermal management control device therefor, and a computer-readable storage medium according to the embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to
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When the current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to a preset temperature threshold, the engine 110 is considered to be in a warm-up state. When the total engine power is greater than or equal to a preset power threshold and the current vehicle speed is less than or equal to a preset vehicle speed threshold, that is, the engine 110 is in a state of high power and low vehicle speed, the engine 110 has a low heat dissipation requirement, but a risk of local overheat. In this case, by controlling the water pump 121 to periodically switch between a start state and a stop state, the local overheat of the engine 110 is avoided, and extended warm-up time of the engine 110 and increased power consumption of the thermal management system 120 caused by excessive heat dissipation are avoided. That is to say, the thermal management system 120 is ensured to have a minimum power consumption. It should be noted that the temperature-related parameter of the engine 110 in the present disclosure is the temperature of the coolant flowing out of the engine 110. In some embodiments, the preset temperature threshold may be 60° C.-80° C., the preset power threshold may be 5 kW-8 kW, and the preset vehicle speed threshold may be 5 km/h-10 km/h. In some embodiments, the preset temperature threshold may be 80° C., the preset power threshold may be 5 kW, and the preset vehicle speed threshold may be 5 km/h.
In some embodiments, Step S1 further includes: When the water pump is in the start state, the rotation speed of the water pump is controlled to be a safe rotation speed of the water pump. It should be noted that the safe rotation speed of the water pump is a rotation speed with a safe flow rate. The safe flow rate means the minimum flow rate required by cooling of the cylinder body and the cylinder cover of the engine at a certain load, that is, a flow rate without local overheat and boiling. In some embodiments, the safe rotation speed of the water pump is determined by looking up MAP of safe rotation speed of the water pump according to a current rotation speed of the engine and a current torque of the engine. MAP (e.g., a lookup table) of safe rotation speed of the water pump is specified by simulation and experiment in the research, development and design stage according to the situation of the engine 110 for the purpose of achieving the minimum flow rate for cooling the engine 110 to avoid local overheat, which is preset in the thermal management control device 124. The MAP/lookup table of safe rotation speed of the water pump may include variables and their correlations for determining the safe rotation speed of the water pump. The MAP/lookup table of safe rotation speed of the water pump may include the safe rotation speeds of the water pump, the current rotation speeds of the engine, the current torques of the engine under various situations of the engine, and other parameters, and the correlations among them.
In some embodiments, Step S1 further includes: after the water pump is in the start state for a start time, controlling the water pump to switch to the stop state; and after the water pump is in the stop state for a stop time, controlling the water pump to switch to the start state. In some embodiments, the start time and the stop time are both preset fixed values. Since the time when the engine 110 is in the warm-up state of high power and low vehicle speed is not very long, the start time and the stop time are specified by simulation and experiment in the research, development and design stage according to the situation of the engine 110, which are preset in the thermal management control device 124. This can meet the basic requirements, and simplify the control program. In some other embodiments, the start time positively correlates with the current vehicle speed and the stop time inversely correlates with the current vehicle speed. Obviously, the higher the current vehicle speed is, the higher the heat dissipation requirement of the engine 110 will be. Therefore, by increasing the start time and reducing the stop time, the thermal management system 120 can be ensured to be in the minimum power consumption state more accurately.
In some embodiments, the thermal management control method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure further includes Step S2: When the current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to the preset temperature threshold, the rotation speed of the air-cooling radiator is controlled to zero, and the opening of the thermostat is controlled to zero. It should be noted that the rotation speed of the air-cooling radiator 122 refers to the rotation speed of a fan in the air-cooling radiator 122.
When the current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to the preset temperature threshold, the engine 110 is considered to be in the warm-up state. That is to say, the engine 110 has a low heat dissipation requirement, and the engine 110 can be warmed up by its own heat. Therefore, the rotation speed of the air-cooling radiator 122 is controlled to zero, and the opening of the thermostat 123 is controlled to zero, such that the engine 110 does not participate in the cooling in the second cooling circulation, thereby ensuring that the thermal management system 120 is in the minimum power consumption state.
In some embodiments, the thermal management control method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure further includes Step S3: When the current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to the preset temperature threshold, and the total engine power is less than the preset power threshold, the water pump is controlled to stop.
When the current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to the preset temperature threshold, and the total engine power is less than the preset power threshold, the engine 110 is considered to be in a warm-up state of low power. At this time, the heat generated by the engine 110 is relatively small and can be completely used for the warm-up of the engine 110. Moreover, there is no risk of local overheat, i.e., no cooling is required. Therefore, by controlling the water pump 121 to stop, the thermal management system 120 is ensured to be in the minimum power consumption state.
In some embodiments, the thermal management control method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure further includes Step S4: When the current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to the preset temperature threshold, the total engine power is greater than or equal to the preset power threshold, and the current vehicle speed is greater than the preset vehicle speed threshold, the rotation speed of the water pump is controlled to be the safe rotation speed of the water pump.
When the current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to the preset temperature threshold, the total engine power is greater than or equal to the preset power threshold, and the current vehicle speed is greater than the preset vehicle speed threshold, the engine 110 is considered to be in a warm-up state of high power and high vehicle speed, the engine 110 has a high risk of local overheat, compared with the case in the high-power, low-vehicle speed state. Therefore, by controlling the rotation speed of the water pump 121 to be the safe rotation speed of the water pump, a safe flow rate at which the engine 110 has no local overheat is ensured, and the thermal management system 120 is ensured to be in the minimum power consumption state.
In some other embodiments, Step S4 can be replaced by Step S4a: When the current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to the preset temperature threshold the total engine power is greater than or equal to the preset power threshold, and the current vehicle speed is greater than the preset vehicle speed threshold, the rotation speed of the water pump is controlled to be greater than or equal to the safe rotation speed of the water pump and positively correlate with the current vehicle speed. By controlling the rotation speed of the water pump to increase with the increase of the current vehicle speed, the risk of local overheat of the engine 110 can be further reduced.
In some embodiments, the thermal management control method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure further includes the following Steps S5 to S7.
When the temperature of the engine 110 is greater than or equal to the preset temperature threshold, the engine 110 is considered to complete the warm-up process. At this time, the thermal management system 120 needs to continuously control the temperature of the engine 110. When the opening of the thermostat 123 is greater than or equal to the preset opening threshold, the engine 110 is considered to enter an operating state with a high heat dissipation requirement. At this time, both the water pump 121 and the air-cooling radiator 122 need to participate in the cooling of the engine 110 and the engine 110 needs to have the minimum fuel consumption, that is, in the most efficient operating state. Particularly, by using the current rotation speed of the engine, the current torque of the engine and the current ambient temperature as input parameters, and looking up in MAP of minimum fuel consumption of the engine, the total target heat dissipation of the engine 110 in an operating state of minimum fuel consumption and highest efficiency is finally outputted. MAP of minimum fuel consumption of the engine is specified by simulation and experiment in the research, development and design stage according to the situation of the vehicle 100 for the purpose of achieving the minimum fuel consumption of the engine 110, which is preset in the thermal management control device 124. The current ambient temperature refers to the air temperature outside the vehicle, that is, the inlet temperature of the engine 110 and the air intake temperature of the air-cooling radiator 122.
When the opening of the thermostat 123 is greater than or equal to the preset opening threshold, the engine 110 is cooled by the second cooling circulation. There are many combinations of rotation speeds of the water pump 121 and the air-cooling radiator 122 that allow the engine 110 to have an operating state of minimum fuel consumption and highest efficiency, In the embodiment of the present disclosure, by using the total target heat dissipation, the air intake flow rate of the air-cooling radiator 122 and the current ambient temperature as input parameters, and looking up in MAP of minimum power consumption of the thermal management system, a combination of the target rotation speed of the water pump and the target rotation speed of the air-cooling radiator is outputted, such that the thermal management system 120 can work with the minimum power consumption. MAP of minimum power consumption of the thermal management system is specified by simulation and experiment in the research, development and design stage according to the situation of the thermal management system 120 for the purpose of achieving the minimum powder consumption of the thermal management system 120, which is preset in the thermal management control device 124. In some embodiments, the air intake flow rate of the air-cooling radiator 122 is determined according to the current vehicle speed and an ambient air flow rate.
By the preset MAP of minimum fuel consumption of the engine, the total target heat dissipation of the engine achieving the minimum fuel consumption or the highest efficiency under the current operating conditions is determined. Then, by MAP of minimum power consumption of the thermal management system, a combination of the rotation speed of the water pump 121 and the rotation speed of the air-cooling radiator 122, at which the thermal management system 120 has a minimum power consumption, that is, the target rotation speed of the water pump and the target rotation speed of the air-cooling radiator, are determined. The water pump 121 and the air-cooling radiator 122 are controlled to operate at the target rotation speed of the water pump and the target rotation speed of the air-cooling radiator respectively, so as to realize the optimization of the power consumption of the thermal management system and the fuel consumption of the engine.
In some embodiments, Step S5 includes the following Steps S501 to S503.
By using the current rotation speed of the engine, the current torque of the engine and the current ambient temperature as input parameters, and looking up in MAP of minimum fuel consumption of the engine, the target temperature of the engine 110 in an operating state of minimum fuel consumption and highest efficiency is outputted. In some embodiments, from the difference ΔT between the current temperature of the engine and the target temperature of the engine, the heat required by the engine from the current temperature to the target temperature is calculated to be C·M·ΔT, where C is the heat capacity of the coolant, and M is the weight of the coolant, which depends on the flow rate. Therefore, the total target heat dissipation when the engine is cooled can be obtained by the heat generated by the engine minus C·M·ΔT.
In some embodiments, the thermal management control method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure further includes the following Steps S8 to S11.
When the temperature of the engine 110 is greater than or equal to the preset temperature threshold and the opening of the thermostat 123 is less than the preset opening threshold, the engine 110 is considered to complete the warm-up process. However, the engine 110 has not entered an operating state with a high heat dissipation requirement yet. At this time, by controlling the opening of the thermostat 123, the engine 110 reaches the target temperature to operate in a state of the minimum fuel consumption and the highest efficiency. Moreover, since the water pump 121 operates at the lowest rotation speed and the air-cooling radiator is stopped, the thermal management system 120 is a state with the minimum power consumption.
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In the thermal management control method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the current temperature of the engine is less than or equal to a preset temperature threshold, the engine 110 is considered to be in a warm-up state. When the total engine power is greater than or equal to a preset power threshold and the current vehicle speed is less than or equal to a preset vehicle speed threshold, that is, the engine 110 is in a state of high power and low vehicle speed, the engine 110 has a low heat dissipation requirement, but a risk of local overheat. In this case, by controlling the water pump 121 to periodically switch between a start state and a stop state, the local overheat of the engine 110 is avoided, and extended warm-up time of the engine 110 and increased power consumption of the thermal management system 120 caused by excessive heat dissipation are avoided. That is to say, the thermal management system 120 is ensured to have a minimum power consumption.
In the description of the specification, the description with reference to the terms “an embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “example”, “specific example”, or “some examples” and so on means that features, structures, materials or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are embraced in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. In the specification, the schematic expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. The described features, structures, materials or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manners in one or more embodiments. Moreover, where there are no contradictions, the various embodiments or examples described in the specification and features of various embodiments or examples can be combined by those skilled in the art.
Moreover, the terms “first”, and “second” are used merely for the purpose of description, and shall not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implying a quantity of indicated technical features Therefore, a feature restricted by “first” or “second” may explicitly indicate or implicitly include at least one of such features. In the descriptions of the present disclosure, “multiple” means at least two, for example, two or three, unless explicitly specified.
The description of any process or method in the flowcharts or described otherwise herein can be construed as representing one or more modules, fragments, or parts that include codes of executable instructions used to implement a logical function or steps of a process. In addition, the scope of the implementations of the present disclosure includes additional implementations, where functions can be performed not in an order shown or discussed, including performing the functions basically at the same time or in reverse order according to the functions involved. This can be understood by a person skilled in the art to which the embodiments of the present disclosure pertain.
The logic and/or steps shown in the flowcharts or described otherwise herein, for example, a sequenced list that may be considered as executable instructions used for implementing logical functions, may be implemented in any computer-readable storage medium, for use by an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device (for example, a computer-based system, a system including a processor, or other systems that can obtain an instruction from the instruction execution system, apparatus or device and execute the instruction), or for use with such instruction execution systems, apparatuses, or devices. In the specification, the “computer-readable storage medium” may be any apparatus that can include, store, communicate, propagate, or transmit programs for use by an instruction execution system, apparatus or device or for use with the instruction execution system apparatus or device. More examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable storage medium include: an electrical connection (electronic device) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic apparatus), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber apparatus, and a portable compact disk read-only memory (CDROM). In addition, the computer-readable storage medium can even be paper or other suitable media on which the program can be printed, because the program can be obtained electronically by, for example, optically scanning paper or other media, then editing, deciphering, or processing in other suitable ways if necessary, and then storing it in a computer memory.
It should be understood that parts of the present disclosure can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. In the foregoing implementations, steps or methods can be implemented by software or firmware that is stored in a memory and executed by a proper instruction execution system. For example, if hardware is used for implementation, same as in another implementation, implementation may be performed by any one of the following technologies well known in the art or a combination thereof: a discrete logic circuit including a logic gate circuit for implementing a logic function of a data signal, a dedicated integrated circuit including a proper combination of logic gate circuits, a programmable gate array (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and the like.
A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or some of the steps of the methods in the foregoing embodiments may be implemented by a program instructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, one or a combination of the steps of the method embodiments are performed.
Moreover, functional units according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may be integrated in one processing module, may be physically separate from each other or may be integrated in one modules by two or more units. The integrated modules described above can be implemented either in the form of hardware, or software functional modules. The integrated module, if implemented in the form of a software program module and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.
The storage medium mentioned above may be a read-only memory, a magnetic disk, a magnetic disk or an optical disc. Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it can be understood that the foregoing embodiments are some of the embodiments and should not be understood as limitation to the present disclosure. Changes, modifications, replacements, or variations can be made to the foregoing embodiments by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202110458538.7 | Apr 2021 | CN | national |
This application is a Continuation application of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2022/088512, filed on Apr. 22, 2022, which is based on and claims priority to and benefits of Chinese Patent Application No. 202110458538.7, filed on Apr. 27, 2021. The entire content of all of the above-referenced applications is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/CN2022/088512 | Apr 2022 | US |
| Child | 18373221 | US |
