Romax Evolve

Part of the Romax toolset, Romax Evolve provides application-specific tools for essential structural and NVH analysis of eMachines. Romax Evolve helps electric machine designers to ensure the validity and robustness of their eMachine, optimising its durability, efficiency, and noise performance.

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Romax: Integrated powertrain simulation

Romax Evolve is part of the Romax portfolio, an integrated toolset for ePowertrain engineering from concept exploration to virtual product sign-off.

Romax Evolve

 

 

The challenge

Electric machine technology is moving fast, as the drive for electrification challenges designers to achieve higher torque densities and higher speeds. These tough new targets will not be met using historic designs and processes. To design the electric machines of the future, engineers need multi-fidelity, multi-physics simulation tools, so they can make fast, informed engineering decisions.


The solution

Offering dedicated motor structural design with proprietary interfaces to electromagnetic analysis and full powertrain simulation, Romax Evolve unlocks a powerful motor simulation ecosystem. Suitable for use from the early stages of design, its multi-fidelity, multi-physics approach to predicting performance for durability, NVH and efficiency gives engineers the answers they need more quickly.

Overview

Romax Evolve brings together essential capabilities for concept design, durability, efficiency and NVH from across the Romax software suite, into a focussed tool for eMachine simulation. While Romax Evolve has all capabilities required by eMachine specialists looking for a detailed analysis tool, Romax Evolve is also used by non-experts, or those who need quick and occasional answers, thanks to its accessible interface and options for lower-fidelity simulation.

Model-building in Romax Evolve is extremely fast and easy, so that users can get results very quickly. Romax Evolve offers analysis for durability, NVH and efficiency, allowing the user to consider multiple physics to ensure that all targets are effectively met. These analyses can be performed throughout the design process, with analyses growing in complexity as the model fidelity increases, constantly capturing the optimal level of detail to achieve useful engineering insight without undue complexity or overlong computation time. The parametric model can be constantly edited and updated based on analysis insights, and even used for optimisation and sensitivity studies to examine the effect of manufacturing variability on performance.

As a standalone tool, Romax Evolve provides multi-fidelity tools for electrical machine design and analysis, from initial studies through to validation with test data. As part of the Romax software suite, Romax Evolve integrates into powerful multi-fidelity full system analysis, so designers can check the performance of their machine in the context of the whole ePowertrain. In addition, Romax Evolve’s links to other tools within the Hexagon portfolio and beyond create a powerful ecosystem that democratizes complex processes and facilitates streamlined workflows with electromagnetic simulation, CAD and system-level CAE. 

Rapid model build

In Romax Evolve, a fully parametric model of a basic eMachine structure, including shafts, bearings and a simple housing, can be built within minutes. Geometry can be defined manually, using a drag-and-drop 2D modelling interface with live reflection of the model in 3D, or imported from CAD data or electromagnetic packages. Bearings can be modelled initially as linear stiffnesses, then selected from comprehensive bearing catalogs or designed from scratch. FE components – housings, flexible shafts or bearing rings – can be imported or created and condensed natively. 

Romax Evolve’s intuitive, application-specific user interface makes it very easy for users to build models extremely quickly, so they can get to the value-add activities of simulation and interpretation as early as possible. A model in Romax Evolve, even with only minimal detail, is sufficient to start generating useful engineering insight and for early-stage prediction of durability and NVH performance – it is designed to offer a good enough answer very quickly.


Romax Evolve enables consideration of component behaviour in the context of the whole machine structure. Using state of the art bearing contact models, together with a hybrid approach of FE, analytical and empirical methods, Romax Evolve delivers fast, parallelized static analysis, including deflections, loads, and stresses.

Proven, independent models are provided for bearing stiffness and durability, including consideration of the effect of bearing non-linearity on rotor shaft deflection, and bearing durability and drag torque/efficiency evaluation to ISO standards.

Analyses are appropriate to the model fidelity, ranging from fast approximations when evaluating design concepts to longer, more detailed analyses during virtual testing and design for manufacture.

Compilation of images showing how Evolve calculates bearing loads and static misalignments

For NVH, Romax Evolve offers prediction of vibration and radiated noise caused by electromagnetic forces, so that users can identify NVH problems and try out solutions. Idealised excitations can be applied within Romax Evolve for initial indications of motor NVH based on leading parameters, and electromagnetic excitations can be imported when available.

Romax Evolve’s frequency domain vibration analysis is fast to run, accurate and easily interpretable, for convenient performance prediction, design studies or test planning and correlation. Further capabilities for rotor dynamic analysis offer prediction of critical speeds and vibrations caused by mechanical imbalance and unbalanced magnetic pull to validate designs against all-important energy requirements. An embedded, easy to use, full automated acoustic solver powered by Actran brings complex simulation of radiated noise to the non-expert. Sound pressure, sound power and directivity results are easy to interpret for comparison with targets, and viewing the acoustic results alongside vibration helps you to trace the sources of any problem noise.

Acoustic analysis and radiated noise coming from deflecting structural motor model

Romax Evolve users can import motor efficiency maps and evaluate motor efficiency and energy consumption considering bearing, seal and electromagnetic loss mechanisms. It is possible to combine bearing and seal drag losses (using ISO methods) and electromagnetic loss data to generate complete efficiency prediction of the electric machine and subsequently total energy consumption across a complete drive-cycle.

Romax offers workflows and proprietary interfaces with all leading electromagnetic FE software packages, to cover various parts of the process.

  • Import geometry from electromagnetic packages
  • Embedded client to JMAG-Express Online for instant access to JSOL’s parameter-based motor design support tool, so users can seamlessly perform rapid sizing and early-stage concept design from within the Romax environment.
  • Import motor efficiency maps
  • Import electromagnetic excitations (torque ripple and stator forces) for NVH analysis 

Workflow from electromagnetic model through various motor analyses in Evolve and then full system simulation in Romax

Integrated ePowertrain design 

Romax Evolve is part of the Romax portfolio, which means you can use the same model in common file formats for multi-attribute, multi-fidelity, full system design, simulation and optimization. Our product range starts with Romax Concept, the perfect platform for early stage investigation and design space exploration, and extends through Romax Enduro, Romax Spectrum and Romax Energy, for analysis and optimization of efficiency, durability and NVH within a single model. Romax Spin adds world-leading bearing design and analysis capabilities, while Romax Evolve provides the perfect tool for electric machine designers looking to test out the structural performance of their motor. 

Beyond Romax, we have interfaces with other tools in the Hexagon portfolio and beyond. So, whether you are wanting to take your Romax powertrain into a full vehicle MBD model in Adams, or import electromagnetic loss data to be considered in the efficiency prediction of your electric machine, Romax will sit at the heart of your workflow.

“We have created a promising powertrain concept, offering high efficiency in both electric and hybrid driving, and good driving performance. All design and efficiency calculations were done using Romax.”
TU Darmstadt
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