Romax and JMAG develop an end-to-end e-powertrain design and analysis solution
Dr. Rob Holehouse, Shreya Chandrashekhar and Pankaj Pawar, System Dynamics team, Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division
Accelerating e-powertrain design: Romax and JMAG's solution
Enter a new phase of e-powertrain design with Romax and JMAG's end-to-end solution.
Hexagon and JSOL announced a strategic partnership at the JMAG* User Conference in Japan in December 2023. This collaboration will deepen the integration between Hexagon’s System Dynamics Suite and JMAG*. Amidst this exciting development, we are thrilled to announce a new automated workflow between Romax and JMAG (detailed later in this article), poised to make electric machine (e-machine) design and analysis processes more streamlined and efficient.
The rapid electrification of industries like automotive and aerospace has created a demand for simulation technologies that enable cross-functional teams to understand the impact of component-level design choices on system-level performance. With the increase in the production of electric vehicles, e-machines which are an integral part of the system, have come to the forefront of design efforts. Consequently, the interactions between the e-machine and the broader powertrain have garnered significant attention among all industry players striving to stay competitive in this landscape.
However, the ever-evolving challenges facing the CAE industry extend beyond the shift to electrification. OEMs and suppliers are under pressure to bring new designs to market faster than ever. This drives a requirement to minimise development time, reduce the number of prototypes, and reduce the reliance on physical prototyping. It is no longer sufficient for the designer and CAE analyst to purely consider the ‘nominal design’. Analysts also need a better understanding of design variability, and to be able to understand the impact that small design changes or manufacturing tolerances have on broader system behaviour. Considered together, these trends highlight the need for a simulation tool-chain offering efficient workflows, delivering faster insights & the ability to run simple and robust “what-if” analyses.
The partnership with JMAG complements Hexagon’s wide spectrum of capabilities and partner ecosystem.
Addressing these industry challenges, Romax, part of the Hexagon System Dynamics Suite, stands out as a comprehensive solution. It offers efficient modelling workflows and fast analysis of conventional and electrified powertrains (e-powertrains), which find applicability in a lot of domains, from automotive to aerospace, and renewable energy to industrial machinery. Romax specialises in advanced drivetrain analysis critical for e-powertrain design and performance optimisation. The Romax product line includes capabilities for gear and bearing durability and efficiency analysis, best-in-class tools for detailed bearing design and powertrain NVH simulation, from calculating gear mesh transmission error to predicting noise radiated from the powertrain.
The rapid electrification of industries like automotive and aerospace has created a demand for simulation technologies that enable cross-functional teams to understand the impact of component-level design choices on system-level performance. With the increase in the production of electric vehicles, e-machines which are an integral part of the system, have come to the forefront of design efforts. Consequently, the interactions between the e-machine and the broader powertrain have garnered significant attention among all industry players striving to stay competitive in this landscape.
However, the ever-evolving challenges facing the CAE industry extend beyond the shift to electrification. OEMs and suppliers are under pressure to bring new designs to market faster than ever. This drives a requirement to minimise development time, reduce the number of prototypes, and reduce the reliance on physical prototyping. It is no longer sufficient for the designer and CAE analyst to purely consider the ‘nominal design’. Analysts also need a better understanding of design variability, and to be able to understand the impact that small design changes or manufacturing tolerances have on broader system behaviour. Considered together, these trends highlight the need for a simulation tool-chain offering efficient workflows, delivering faster insights & the ability to run simple and robust “what-if” analyses.
The partnership with JMAG complements Hexagon’s wide spectrum of capabilities and partner ecosystem.
Addressing these industry challenges, Romax, part of the Hexagon System Dynamics Suite, stands out as a comprehensive solution. It offers efficient modelling workflows and fast analysis of conventional and electrified powertrains (e-powertrains), which find applicability in a lot of domains, from automotive to aerospace, and renewable energy to industrial machinery. Romax specialises in advanced drivetrain analysis critical for e-powertrain design and performance optimisation. The Romax product line includes capabilities for gear and bearing durability and efficiency analysis, best-in-class tools for detailed bearing design and powertrain NVH simulation, from calculating gear mesh transmission error to predicting noise radiated from the powertrain.
A key part of any analysis involving the e-machine is the consideration of the electromagnetic field. For the e-machine designer, a trusted electromagnetic analysis tool is needed to evaluate machine performance and efficiency, ensuring that all design targets are met across the complete operating window. In the context of noise, vibration and harshness of the e-powertrain (commonly referred to as eNVH), the electromagnetic analysis tool is needed to predict the forces in the machine (torque ripple and radial forces on the rotor, and radial and tangential forces on stator teeth), and these forces are subsequently applied to the structural model as part of the vibration analysis. The task of predicting the tooth forces, although a key part of the NVH process, cannot be considered in isolation. For analysts to trust the results of the NVH analysis, it necessary to not only trust the underlying solver technology, but also trust that their model definition represents their design intent.
To fit into our customers’ trusted processes, Romax has always aimed to develop simple and reliable workflows with leading electromagnetic analysis tools. In 2019 Romax introduced an interface with JMAG which employs a proprietary file format to call data required for drivetrainlevel eNVH analysis from JMAG to Romax via a single data file. This simple workflow was ahead of its time; by minimising the risk of user error, and reducing the effort required to pass data between tools, users could focus their efforts on generating results and making informed engineering decisions and could therefore better leverage the strengths of both tools.
This year, Romax is taking this collaboration a step further by incorporating a capability to run JMAG analysis from within the Romax environment using a newly developed automation code. This automation allows the Romax user to vary e-machine parameters and call JMAG to generate e-machine excitations for each design iteration, all from within the Romax environment. Thus, the Romax user can run a study to investigate the impact of changes in the e-machine geometry on the system vibration response. Multiple design candidates can now be rapidly assessed in context of the system performance, empowering the user to understand how design sensitivities and manufacturing tolerances may affect the system.
To fit into our customers’ trusted processes, Romax has always aimed to develop simple and reliable workflows with leading electromagnetic analysis tools. In 2019 Romax introduced an interface with JMAG which employs a proprietary file format to call data required for drivetrainlevel eNVH analysis from JMAG to Romax via a single data file. This simple workflow was ahead of its time; by minimising the risk of user error, and reducing the effort required to pass data between tools, users could focus their efforts on generating results and making informed engineering decisions and could therefore better leverage the strengths of both tools.
This year, Romax is taking this collaboration a step further by incorporating a capability to run JMAG analysis from within the Romax environment using a newly developed automation code. This automation allows the Romax user to vary e-machine parameters and call JMAG to generate e-machine excitations for each design iteration, all from within the Romax environment. Thus, the Romax user can run a study to investigate the impact of changes in the e-machine geometry on the system vibration response. Multiple design candidates can now be rapidly assessed in context of the system performance, empowering the user to understand how design sensitivities and manufacturing tolerances may affect the system.
The new automated coupling between Romax and JMAG will enable rapid investigation and optimisation of how electric machine parameters affect e-powertrain vibrations.
By enabling these seamless, rapid design studies and further removing the reliance on repeated, manual data transfer between tools, Romax has significantly improved the way the e-machine designer and the powertrain analyst collaborate.
As this exciting development nears completion, the Hexagon team is working closely with Powersys, a global provider of design and engineering solutions for electric vehicles and grid applications. Powersys is Hexagon’s go-to-market partner in the US, EU and India. Combining the crossfunctional expertise of Powersys and Hexagon will accelerate the delivery of the best-in-class e-powertrain simulation capability to our customers. The teams have been working on joint case studies and plan to present resulting conference papers throughout the year.
As pioneers in their respective fields, the new coupling between Romax and JMAG will minimize design time, enhance design quality, and decrease reliance on physical prototyping through simulation using trusted tools and reliable results.
* JMAG from JSOL Corporation is a specialized simulation software for electromechanical design and development. It accurately grasps complex physical phenomena inside of equipment and performs high-speed analysis. It has been used as a product development and design tool for motors, transformers, actuators, sensors, and other electronics and power electronics.
By enabling these seamless, rapid design studies and further removing the reliance on repeated, manual data transfer between tools, Romax has significantly improved the way the e-machine designer and the powertrain analyst collaborate.
As this exciting development nears completion, the Hexagon team is working closely with Powersys, a global provider of design and engineering solutions for electric vehicles and grid applications. Powersys is Hexagon’s go-to-market partner in the US, EU and India. Combining the crossfunctional expertise of Powersys and Hexagon will accelerate the delivery of the best-in-class e-powertrain simulation capability to our customers. The teams have been working on joint case studies and plan to present resulting conference papers throughout the year.
As pioneers in their respective fields, the new coupling between Romax and JMAG will minimize design time, enhance design quality, and decrease reliance on physical prototyping through simulation using trusted tools and reliable results.
* JMAG from JSOL Corporation is a specialized simulation software for electromechanical design and development. It accurately grasps complex physical phenomena inside of equipment and performs high-speed analysis. It has been used as a product development and design tool for motors, transformers, actuators, sensors, and other electronics and power electronics.
The new automated coupling between Romax and JMAG will enable rapid investigation and optimisation of how electric machine parameters affect e-powertrain vibrations.