Benchmarking

The climate-acoustic chamber with its flexible conditioning from cold to heat climate offers ideal boundary conditions to realistically load the heating/air conditioning system of a vehicle. With the control of the temperature from -20°C to +50°, the humidity, the sun simulation by means of infrared lamps as well as the vehicle inflow with up to 32 km/h driving wind, a variety of climate zones can be simulated as vehicle environment. In addition to the thermodynamic usability, the design as an acoustic semi-free-field room together with the hydrophobic attenuation of all conditioning components allows the authentic evaluation and measurement of acoustic phenomena. Typical applications include the testing and subjective evaluation of in-vehicle air conditioning compressors, HVAC noise (evaporator hiss) and general transfer path analysis of the refrigeration circuit.

Starting with consulting and system procurement, we take over the entire project management. We install the measurement technology, including cabling and the complete application of sensors and actuators. Configuration and data evaluation are just as much part of the scope of services as calibration, functional testing and subsequent dismantling of the test vehicles. A modern technology center and an experienced team of application engineers and mechanics are available specifically for this purpose. In the course of the steadily growing importance of hybrid systems and electric vehicles, we have developed our own high-voltage hardware solutions for current, voltage and temperature. These allow all relevant measured variables to be recorded via IPEmotion or our CAN bus data logger. They can also be integrated into existing CAN bus systems. In the context of the development of hybrid systems and electric vehicles, these are becoming increasingly important. Thanks to TÜV certification of our HV measurement technology as well as continuous further education and regular training in the high-voltage field, we guarantee the highest level of quality and safety. A separate area is available for the safe upgrade of electric and hybrid vehicles.

The acoustic chamber with HV charging column offers a wide range of possibilities for acoustic testing of vehicles, vehicle subsystems and general technical superstructures. Designed as a semi-open-air room with large hinged doors on two sides, the acoustic chamber has a vehicle lifting platform that allows very flexible control and modification of test setups already being tested. The combination of HV charging station and acoustic environment supports tests and development steps, as recently demanded in automotive engineering with purely electric vehicles and fast charging technology.

With its NVH system test bench, IPETRONIK offers the possibility of recording and analyzing the noise development at the HVAC (air conditioning unit) using in-house acoustic measurement technology. For this purpose, microphones are placed in the near field of local sound sources and, if necessary, the so-called acoustic camera (GFAI, see figure on the right) is used for sound localization. Sensors for vibration and pulsation of the refrigerant can also be placed in the system.

The acoustic development of automotive components benefits significantly from the interaction of testing and simulation. While general experience and analyses of measurements form the basis for new developments, simulation allows the evaluation of components and concepts in advance, independently of time- consuming and cost-intensive hardware. Thus, it is possible to select from several designs, weak points can be identified and avoided at an early stage. Thus, the parallel management of simulation and testing allows a constant mutual optimization - the quality of each hardware construction stage benefits from the previous simulation; likewise, the accuracy of the simulation models can be optimized by comparison with the subsequently available measurement data.

Thermal management is a key topic in vehicle development that is taken into account in the development process right from the start. Valuable development steps can be taken at an early stage on a TC5:E5hermomanagement system test bench. By integrating calculation models and simulators/emulators, qualitative statements on systems, components and control strategies for cooling, heating and refrigeration circuits could be made at an early stage of development (without a vehicle). In addition, early testing of operating strategies is possible. In further phases of development (including series production support), problems can be reproduced and causes investigated in a reproducible environment.

In the age of e-mobility, the refrigerant circuit serves not only to provide comfort air conditioning for the passenger cabin, but also to cool the electric drive train and the battery. It thus becomes one of the central subsystems of the vehicle and must be taken into account from the very beginning of development. Since neither vehicles nor subsystems are usually available at this early stage, the ducts, evaporators and other heat exchangers are built geodesically. The powertrain and battery are represented by emulators, and conditioned air is applied to the indoor evaporators. The air path for the condenser simulates temperature and driving speed. This allows caloric (performance) evaluation of the system, testing of different interconnections, comparison of different components, and development of operating strategies.

The measurement of thermodynamic properties of refrigerant circuit components is of great importance in the development of automotive components (and systems). Our measurement results are often used as a basis for decision-making for series production as well as for the analysis of optimization potentials or unique selling propositions. As a manufacturer- independent test center with many years of cross- industry experience in the field of thermodynamics, IPETRONIK offers component measurements including well-founded evaluations. OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers as well as development partners benefit from our services.

In the modern development of vehicle air conditioning and in connection with thermal management, the technical design or the validation of the function of the refrigerant compressor is the focus of the holistic development process. Especially due to the changing requirements in the automotive sector, it is indispensable to reproduce a flawless function of the test item to be tested by means of reliable test bench equipment. Be it in the classic AC mode or in the now increasingly important heat pump mode. The interaction of sustainable hardware in the test bench and the coordinated control in the form of the in-house software IPEmotion make this test bench a unique product in the service sector of the automotive industry.

Component development in "mini format"! The little brother to the IPEcomp is the IPEload auto. As already mentioned with the IPEcomp, this product can be used to determine the properties of the test specimen. Here the focus is more on durability and lifecycle performance. This is realized by means of Raffertests specified in the customer's specifications, or the determination of the test matrix is worked out individually with the expertise of IPEengineering. Due to the small installation space and the resulting low space requirement, this load box can be used for other development-relevant topics around the refrigerant compressor. In conjunction with a separate climatic test cabinet, the test specimen can be subjected to various temperatures, both in the positive and negative Celsius range.

IPETRONIK is one of the few companies in Europe to have been accredited by the Federal Motor Transport Authority as a test laboratory for determining R134a leakage rates. The accreditation was granted on 20.12.2007 and was valid until October 2018, authorizing the company to carry out leakage measurements in accordance with Directive 2006/40/EC including Regulation 706/2007 on automotive air conditioning systems and their components within the scope of KBA type approval. Since 2017, this type approval is no longer required by the KBA for air conditioning systems, as in Europe only new registrations of vehicles with a refrigerant with a global warming potential (GWP) <150 are permitted. Ipetronik stands for environmental protection, because partially fluorinating greenhouse gases have not yet been completely eliminated, as vehicles with the refrigerant R134a are still on the roads. Here, too, the leakage rates of components must be kept as low as possible and the GWP must be reduced, for example, by using refrigerant mixtures. Ipetronik has been operating the leakage laboratory since 2017 in order to continuously drive improvements in sealing concepts in the field of air conditioning and to detect faulty components at an early stage before they go into series production at the automotive manufacturer. Ipetronik thus makes a decisive contribution to ensuring a high level of quality of the air conditioning systems and ease of service to the customer.

In the context of application and measurement tasks, it is sometimes necessary to design and manufacture special hardware solutions. In addition to experienced employees, a comprehensive range of machinery is available for this purpose.