New concept design for power distribution unit housing within electric truck, achieving ~50% weight reduction

Abstract

This project presents a new concept design for housing of PDU (Power Distribution Unite) in electric truck. The purpose of the study is to design a new concept with different configuration and other materials to reduce the weight of PDU and thereby weight of electrical truck get reduced. Also, the project considering more sustainable materials and hopefully cheaper cost. In the first the chapter Introduction, the purpose of the project is introduced, were weight reduction, hopefully cost reduction and choosing more sustainable materials in electric truck helps moving to more effective and cleaner transport. Further in background the current concept is introduced, where today’s solution is a housing with integrated cooling system is and alloy EN AC-AlSi10Mg(Fe) is used as material. The requirements of PDU housing that are covered by EN AC-AlSi10Mg(Fe) are divided into four categories, EMC, electrical, mechanical, and IP requirements. The new concept design is configurated by separating the cooling plate from housing without any changes and choosing plastic as material for housing. Plastic will cover mechanical and IP requirements, and it needs to be coated with conductive material to cover EMC and electrical requirements. Choosing plastic instead of aluminum reduces the weight of PDU housing. The requirements are explained in more detail in chapter one. In the second chapter technical background, other projects are introduced, where weight has been reduced by reducing usage of metal. This chapter introduces plastic usage in the automotive industry where weight can be reduced. Also, the 2D material Graphene is introduced and different coating methods to use graphene coating on plastic to cover EMC and electrical requirements. Methods and software like System P-Diagram, Granta EduPack, strategy of using new materials to current design and schelkunoff formulas were used to get results. PEEK (10% glass fiber) is the chosed plastic that can cover mechanical and IP requrements. PEEK (10% glass fiber) has ~50% less weigh than EN AC-AlSi10Mg(Fe) and is more sustainable. To cover EMC and electrical requirements and get a complete solution, two solutions are presented. Solution 1: Coated graphene on PEEK (10% glass fiber) and solution 2: Coated metal (aluminum, copper or nickel) on PEEK (10% glass fiber). All solutions are confirmed to cover all requirements by CAD simulations and theoretical calculations. Each solution has advantages and disadvantages, and it’s up to Volvo Trucks to choose the best solution