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The Toyota Prius, the world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, went on sale in Japan in
1997. 18 years later with sales surpassing 8 million vehicles, we're starting to get a clear
picture of how durable vehicles powered by electric powertrains are.
The humble Prius has proved so durable, with regular news of taxi operators surpassing
1 million km (the record stands at 1.5M km), there is even a thread on the priuschat website
designated for Prius owners who have passed 299,999 miles (480,000 km).
Not only are most Prius achieving these distances on the original battery pack (dispelling
that urban myth) but in many cases they are also still on the original factory fitted set of
brake pads!! With a Prius able to use brake regeneration down to 10 km/h, industry
standard hydro-mechanical friction brakes move from being a system made up of
consumable parts to a durable system that lasts the life of the vehicle.
Typical brake pad life expectancy on an ICE car is between 50-100,000 km with brake
rotors needing replacement every 100-200,000 km so the increase in Prius brake life is in
the region of 10x.
If the relatively low powered 50 kw electric motor / generator in the Prius has made friction
brakes 90% redundant, then vehicles like the BMW i3 with a much more powerful electric
motor (125 kw) and aggressive speed variable brake regeneration capable of bringing the
car to a complete stop, make friction brakes entirely a legacy system whose only function is
to provide very low duty-cycle safety functions such as Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS) and
Electronic Stability Control (ESC).
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Taxi operators running fleets of Nissan Leaf are also reporting high mileage on original
brake pads and no doubt given enough time will also pass 500,000 km without a pad &/or
rotor change.
Leaf owners have the added benefit of not having an ICE to service (Prius ICE's reportedly
consume excessive oil above 500,000 km) and with typical electric motor life measured in
the 20-40,000 hour range, electric only powertrains could last in excess of 2 million
kilometres of trouble free motoring, compared to a typical ICE car life expectancy of
320,000 km (200,000 miles).
The more that brake regeneration becomes an auto industry standard, the more inevitable
the elimination of the dead weight and costs associated with legacy friction brake systems
seems. In order to allow electromagnetic braking to functionally replace all mandatory
safety systems like ESC, each wheel requires an electric motor to drive / brake each wheel
independently.
Technologies that we take for granted these days like stability control and anti-lock
brakes paved the way for computer-controlled cars, and these long-established safety
technologies are mandated by NHTSA etc. Automakers today agreed to make automatic
emergency braking (AEB) standard on most U.S. cars by 2022. Automatic braking, like
lane keeping and dynamic cruise control, is considered a precursor to fully autonomous
vehicles.
The converging vectors of vehicle electrification and self-driving cars will accelerate the
need to consolidate all vehicle dynamic controls for propulsion and braking within a single
system, i.e. Software Eats the Automotive Powertrain.
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Part 2: this series we'll take a closer look at electromagnetic braking as a replacement for
mechanical friction brakes in hybrid and electric passenger cars.
Electromagnetic braking is very well established in industrial applications. From 400 tonne
mine haul trucks to 300 km/h Bullet trains, electromagnetic 'friction' is used to slow these
high performance vehicles with commercial grade reliability, so why shouldn't it also be
used on comparatively light weight private passenger vehicles ?
Lets take a look at a few of the more familiar applications of electromagnetic braking.
Japan's Shinkansen high speed rail network has the best safety record on the planet: beating
conventional trains, automobiles and flying. Over the Shinkansen's 50-plus year history,
carrying over 10 billion passengers, there have been zero fatality / injury since 1964.
Clearly many factors contribute to this but obviously the train braking system plays an
important role, especially given the maximum operating speed is 320 km/h (200 mph).
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Bullet trains use electricity to brake 16 car 640 tonne trains from 320 km/h at a controlled
and predictable deceleration rate. Since 1984 all Shinkansen trains have used axial flux
eddy current disc brakes (pictured above). These work along the same lines as an eddy
current dyno where a steel brake rotor has electromagnets facing the disc surface on either
side. When energised the coils induce eddy currents in the rotor which generates
electromagnetic friction that converts the trains kinetic energy into heat.
With the only moving part being the rotor and no wear and tear from mechanical friction,
eddy current brakes have proved incredibly reliable and no doubt contribute to the 100%
safety record achieved by the Shinkansen rail system. Since 2007 next generation Bullet
trains have moved to regenerative braking using the train's traction motors. This helps
increase overall system efficiency but eddy current disc brakes are still in service on 700
Series Shinkansen.
Another very large vehicle that uses electromagnetic brakes is the 400 t class Liebherr
T282B Mine haul truck. with a maximum operating weight of almost 600 tonnes, the
T282B has no mechanical connection between the monster 90 liter V20 twin turbo diesel
engine and the rear wheels.
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The electric retarders can apply over 6,000 hp (4,489 Kw) worth of braking effort (the
Diesel ICE maximum output is 'only' 3650 hp (2700 Kw). Like the Bullet train there is no
battery storage system on-board so the regenerated energy is not stored for later use but is
converted to heat via a stainless steel resistor grid in a system called dynamic braking.
The common thread between all the above braking applications is that mechanical friction
brakes would simply not be capable of reliably doing the job. While these electric braking
systems convert kinetic energy into heat, as do hydraulic friction brakes, using
electromagnetic friction offers a non-contact method of braking that virtually eliminates
maintenance and therefore reliability issues.
In our previous post we've seen evidence that hydro-mechanical friction brakes on hybrids
and EVs have become redundant legacy systems primarily still required on vehicles
because they provide mandatory safety systems. In order to allow electromagnetic braking
to functionally replace systems like ABS & ESC not only do we need each wheel to have
an electric motor to drive / brake each wheel independently, but also additional
electromagnetic braking strategies other then just regeneration feeding electrical energy
into a battery pack.
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In order to allow full electric motor power to be applied in brake mode, alternative energy
discharge methods are required. As we have seen in the examples provided above, there are
several options including dynamic braking, eddy current braking and/or the addition of
supercapacitors in parallel with the battery pack.
With an electric motor for each wheel and full motor power available for braking,
modulating the motors independently to provide mandatory safety systems like anti-lock
braking, stability control, emergency brake assist, automatic emergency braking and torque
vectoring becomes a software project.
La tpica estimacin de duracin en un coche (MCI motor combustin interna) est entre
50-100,000 km con discos de frenos que deben reemplazarse cada 100-200,000 km por lo
que el aumento de la duracin de los frenos del Prius est en la regin de 10x.
Si la potencia de 50 kw motor / generador elctrico relativamente bajo en el Prius ha
hecho de los frenos de friccin 90% redundantes, en vehculos como el BMW i3 con un
mucho ms potente motor (125 kW) y el freno regenerativo de velocidad variable tan
agresivos que es capaz de llevar el coche a una parada completa. Hace que los frenos de
friccin en su totalidad son un sistema heredado cuya nica funcin es la de proporcionar
funciones de seguridad a un muy bajo del ciclo de actividad tales como frenos
antibloqueo (ABS) y control electrnico de estabilidad (ESC).
Los operadores de taxis que funcionan flotas de Nissan Leaf tambin estn reportando un
alto kilometraje en las pastillas originales y, sin duda, dado el tiempo suficiente tambin
pasar los 500.000 km sin cambiar pastillas o discos.
Los propietarios de Nissan Leaf tienen la ventaja aadida de no tener un MCI de servicio
(El MCI del Prius, segn los informes, consumen un exceso de aceite por encima de
500.000 kilmetros) y con la tpica vida til del motor elctrico medido en el rango 20-
40,000 horas, slo los trenes de potencia (powertrain) elctricos podra durar ms de 2
millones de kilmetros de conduccin sin problemas, en comparacin con la vida tpica del
MCI de 320.000 km (200.000 millas).
Como la nica parte mvil es el disco y no hay desgaste por la friccin mecnica, los frenos
de Foucault han demostrado ser muy fiable y sin duda contribuirn al registro de
seguridad del 100% logrado por el sistema de tren Shinkansen. Desde 2007, los trenes de
alta velocidad de prxima generacin se han trasladado al frenado regenerativo usando
los motores de traccin del tren. Esto ayuda a aumentar la eficacia global del sistema de
frenos de disco, porque todava estn en servicio el freno por corrientes de Foucault en
la serie Shinkansen700.
Otro gran vehculo que utiliza frenos electromagnticos es la 400 t Clase de Liebherr
T282B, un camin de transporte minero. Con un peso de operacin mxima de casi 600
toneladas, el T282B no tiene ninguna conexin mecnica entre el motor turbo diesel de
90 litros V20 y las ruedas traseras.
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El hilo comn entre todas las aplicaciones de frenado anteriores es que los frenos de
friccin mecnicas simplemente no seran capaces de hacer fiable el trabajo. Aunque
estos sistemas de frenado elctricos convierten la energa cintica en calor, al igual que
los frenos de friccin hidrulicos, utilizando la friccin electromagntica ofrece un mtodo
sin contacto de frenado que prcticamente elimina, por tanto, problemas de fiabilidad y
mantenimiento.
En la Parte 1 hemos visto que los frenos de friccin hidro-mecnicos en los vehculos
elctricos hbridos y se han convertido en sistemas legados redundantes principalmente
siendo necesarios en los vehculos, ya que proporcionan los sistemas de seguridad
obligatorios. Con el fin de permitir el frenado electromagntico para reemplazar
funcionalmente sistemas como el ABS y ESC no slo necesitamos que cada rueda tiene un
motor elctrico para conducir / freno de cada rueda de forma independiente, sino
tambin las estrategias de frenado electromagntico adicionales aparte de simplemente
la regeneracin de alimentacin de energa elctrica en una batera paquete.
Actualmente en los vehculos hbridos y elctricos slo una fraccin de los motores
elctricos de potencia total se utiliza para el frenado. Por ejemplo, un Chevy Volt tiene
115 kW de potencia del motor elctrico disponible para la aceleracin pero slo 60 kw
para el frenado. Incluso un Tesla Model S, con ms de 500 kw para la aceleracin est
limitada a 60 kw regeneracin mxima del freno.
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La razn principal de esto es los lmites de carga por frenado regenerativo. La mayora de
las bateras de iones de litio la carga y de descarga tienen curvas asimtricas.
Con el fin de permitir la plena potencia del motor elctrico a ser aplicado en el modo de
freno, se requieren mtodos alternativos de descarga. Como hemos visto en los ejemplos
proporcionados anteriormente, hay varias opciones, incluyendo el frenado dinmico, el
frenado por corrientes de Foucault y/o la adicin de supercondensadores en paralelo con
la batera.
Con un motor elctrico para cada rueda y la mxima potencia disponible del motor para el
frenado, la modulacin de los motores de manera independiente para proporcionar
sistemas de seguridad obligatorias como antibloqueo de frenos, control de estabilidad,
freno de emergencia, el frenado automtico de emergencia y vectorizacin del par se
convierte en un proyecto de software.
A causa del movimento, cada sector del disco es atravesado por un flujo de campo
magntico, en variacin continua y, en consecuencia, en ste se generan fuerzas
electromotrices inducidas, que causan la circulacin de corrientes inducidas.
Estas corrientes tienen un sentido opuesto al movimiento del disco en el interior del campo
magntico mismo.
Por consiguiente, se obtiene un efecto de frenado que disminuye el movimiento del disco.
La intensidad del efecto aumenta cuanto ms grande sea el campo magntico de las bobinas
y cuanto ms elevada sea la velocidad del disco.
Debido a este principio de funcionamiento se logra que, cuando el disco est inmvil la
accin de frenado sea nula. A diferencia de la mayor parte de los frenos mecnicos, que
funcionan aprovechando fuerzas de friccin, no hay partes que puedan sufrir desgaste.
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Fuente:
Electric Vehicle News
http://www.adieta.com/consejos-del-experto/