Efficient HiL-Testing for Electric Heavy-Duty Drivetrains using Model-Based Systems Engineering

To reduce CO2 emissions, it is essential to develop innovative vehicle drivetrain concepts. These concepts involve multiple domains, such as mechanics, electronics, hydraulics, and alternative fuels, and present complex interdisciplinary challenges. Product testing is necessary to validate that these new concepts meet functional requirements and fulfill their intended purpose. Although virtual testing through simulation models offers cost-effective solutions, physical testing remains essential for validating real physical behavior. To combine the advantages of virtual and physical testing, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) is an established method for testing physical test subjects in a virtual environment. For HiL-Testing, HiL-Models are required to simulate the behavior of components that are not included in the hardware on the test bench and the environment. The process of creating HiL-Models is complex and mostly done manual due to the individual test cases. This requires a high amount of effort and is error-prone, especially for complex systems. This paper introduces how Model- Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and its advantages in model organization and system architecture modeling can support the HiL-Model generation process. The paper proposes a MBSE-based approach to semi-automatically generate HiL-Models while considering the requirements of real-time capability and test bench compatibility.