Modeling HVAC Systems

Register for this event and the associated North American GT Conference at Conference page.

This two-day class, which starts one day after the seminars, will introduce the use of GT-SUITE software for modeling of air conditioning or heat pump systems, including the refrigerant circuit, underhood cooling module, HVAC ducting, and cabin. The course is targeted towards engineers with responsibility for design and analysis of A/C systems, or for those who are responsible for overall vehicle energy management including an A/C system.

The class will consist primarily of interactive model building exercises. The following are the primary topics to be covered:

Modeling the refrigerant flow network: The participant will learn how to build a model of the refrigerant flow network by two methods. First, the participant will learn how to build flow components manually to understand basic modeling and discretization concepts. Second, the participant will learn how to quickly and easily transform a 3D CAD geometry file into a 1D flow network in GT-SUITE using the pre-processing tool GEM3D.

Modeling A/C system components: The participant will learn how to build and calibrate the basic components of A/C systems, such as compressor, receiver/dryer, thermal expansion valve, and heat exchangers.

Assembling the complete A/C system model for steady state calculation: The participant will learn how to assemble the refrigerant flow network and A/C components into a complete model of the A/C system. Steady state analysis of this system will be discussed, along with calibration to measured data. The participant will learn the basics of the GT-POST post-processing tool for all analysis of results.

Modeling air circuits: The participant will learn how the model could be extended to include a more complete model of the underhood air path (cooling module or complete underhood). In addition, modeling of the HVAC ducting and blower will be discussed.

Modeling the vehicle cabin: The participant will learn about the different levels of modeling detail available for modeling the cabin within GT-SUITE. The use of COOL3D to create a detailed 3-D cabin model will be discussed.

Integration with Cooling/Engine/Vehicle models: The participant will understand the capabilities of GT-SUITE to integrate A/C system models into larger vehicle system level simulations that may include cooling, engine, and driveline systems. Cabin pulldown transient simulations will be discussed, as well as transient drive cycle analysis for fuel economy/energy management (i.e. US EPA SC03 cycle).