The Next Generation - Development Status
Liebherr has reached a significant milestone in the development of the air cycle machine and power electronics with the Preliminary Design Review in December 2018. With Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS as the developer of the air cycle machine and Liebherr-Elektronik GmbH responsible for the power electronics, a cooperative development project was established within the Liebherr Group. The responsible development teams of both companies are now concentrating on the optimization of these two main components.
Progress in noise reduction
One focus of the current project is the development of effective measures for reducing the noise emitted by the air conditioning unit. In cooperation with Vienna University of Technology, Liebherr has developed a highly effective silencer based on the principle of micro perforated surfaces. A further step forward in reducing the space required by silencers is the installation of the already-proven Active Noise Control technology in front of the unit’s air-conveying interfaces. By implementing the measures on the demonstrator (TRL3), it was possible to establish a base of important knowledge and expertise for the development of a series solution.
High level of travel comfort thanks to an optimized control concept
In the current research year, all efforts will be focused on the TRL4-5 demonstrator. This will provide further insights into the architecture design and include tests of railway components and the control concept. The development of the control concept is also carried out in close cooperation with the Vienna University of Technology. The optimized control concept is intended to create a high degree of passenger comfort. In order to ensure continuous improvements in the development process, all development stages are supported by a comprehensive simulation model that is continuously adapted. This simulation also includes an illustration of a car in order to demonstrate further optimization potential.
The model can be adapted to customer-specific parameters and thus enables predictions about the performance of the system in specific areas of application.
Based on the findings of the TRL4-5 tests, all components will be integrated into an air conditioning unit envelope (=TRL6 demonstrator). The TRL6 simulates a real version of a train air conditioning unit.
