Regenerative Braking Effects on Pollutant Release and Zero-Emissions Brakes Technologies

This Master Thesis is the result of an eight-months internship in the headquarter of BeonD Srl, a SME Spin Off of the Politecnico di Torino born in 2012, and of the research group IEHV. The concept of this thesis was born started considering which components are emitting most pollutant on an electric vehicle. In fact, although they have been introduced as the greener solution for the automotive industry, they are not globally zero-emissions, there are components, like brakes and tires, emitting dangerous pollutant also in electric cars. The work is focused on the analysis of the possible ways to reduce the pollutants emitted by the braking system on electric vehicles, in order to reach a possible real zero-emissions drive, starting from already implemented solutions, principally regenerative braking, to find more futuristic solution to be developed and validated to be implemented in the near future with the goal of zero-emissions. The first part is focused on developing a driving model able to simulate the behaviour in braking of a vehicle, understanding how impactful regenerative braking is on the dust emissions of the car, computing a global parameter to be compared to a model where regenerative braking is not present. The validation of the model has been performed comparing the computed data to the ones obtained during on-track tests performed with BeonD Srl. The final goal of the first section is to develop the optimal driving layout to optimise the regenerative braking and obtaining the maximum reduction of the dust emitted by the braking system. The second part is focused on finding alternative solutions to traditional friction brakes with the goal of zero-emissions. The system should be implemented in parallel with the electric drive and regenerative braking, in order to satisfy safety and regulation requests, but at the same time perform all the braking manoeuvres not totally performable by the regenerative braking system. The goal is to complete bibliographical research for finding the most suitable technology to be adaptable for the specific application of a vehicle braking system, developing a specific and flexible geometry. The results would be the feasibility of the innovative braking system to ensure at least the performances of the traditional braking systems. Validation of the braking model has been pivotal for reaching reliable results and understanding better the regenerative braking technology. On-track tests also allowed to develop a more efficient and precise model. The know-how developed for analysing and post-process the data obtained during the on-track tests had an impact on improving data analysis strategy. The development and the evaluation of feasibility for the innovative zero-emissions system allow to improve the knowledge of different and new software, but at the same time allowed to develop an interest, focus and experience on product development chain, tickling critical sense. The main programming environments used during this activity were Matlab Simulik for developing the braking model and the post-processing of the data acquired during on-track tests, alongside other software for the development and validation of the innovative braking systems, like Solidworks, Altair Acusolve and Altair Flux.