Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Malte Kuypers
Delphi Automotive
CITATION: Kuypers, M., "Application of 48 Volt for Mild Hybrid Vehicles and High Power Loads," SAE Technical Paper
2014-01-1790, 2014, doi:10.4271/2014-01-1790.
Introduction
Fuel economy and reduction of emissions, especially CO2
reduction, are big issues for new and future vehicles. To meet
Figure 1. Additional power at 48V
future requirements, car manufacturers are looking for methods
to improve vehicle efficiency. A supporting function could be a Figure 1 gives an indication on the power gain by increasing
KERS system, known from formula 1, but here on the voltage the voltage level, as the distribution of electrical current is at
level of 48V. This function is used for acceleration support and the economical and handling limit.
will be powered by energy recuperation during deceleration.
Furthermore, as it is shown in figure 2, the energy and power
Furthermore, today we have belt-driven loads on the engine demands for future vehicles will still increase in terms of
like Water Pump, Air-Condition Compressor, ABS-Pump, functions for autonomous driving.
Electrical propulsion in Hybrid Vehicles operates on a High
Voltage (HV) Level between 150V and 650V. At this voltage
level a high effort for protection against electrical shock is
legally required. For this reason it is planned to supply high
power functions on the 48V level in Hybrid Vehicles as well,
because the installation effort is considered to be lower.
Figure 3. Multi-voltage Architectures The LV 148 [1] specifies first of all the voltage levels of the 48V
system as seen in figure 4. The usual operation area is
The base architecture - depending on the focus of the OEM, between 36V and 52V. following are areas with functional
CO2 reduction or performance enhancement - comprises the restrictions for under voltage and upper voltage. Important
unchanged 14V E/E System being powered via a DC/DC borders are 54V (U48max, high, limited) and 60V (U48 sh protect). 60V
converter in the power class of 3 kW, and the portion of the must not be reached, respectively exceeded. The same applies
48V System as requested, for example a Motor - Generator in for 54V. The area between the levels is a safety margin.
the power range of 12 kW for energy generation, acceleration
support and recuperation plus a storage device on 48V, here a Furthermore the LV 148 specifies test procedures for 48V
Li-Ion Battery. In some cases the battery can be substituted or components in expected use cases.
supported by a super-capacitor, depending on the application.
In addition the LV 148 provides some premises, where
Once 48V are installed in the vehicle, high power functions as requirements can be derived from, as:
mentioned earlier are about to follow. These additional
functions have power levels of around 500 Watts to 5 kW. Electrical shock protection is not required for DC-Voltage <
Currently it is not planned to convert the whole E/E System to 60V.
48V. (No High Voltage Interlock System (HVIL) is required to
protect humans against electrical shock)
A single malfunction must not lead to a Short Circuit valid for both voltage levels, although special care has to be
between 48V and 12V E/E System. given to the involved conductor materials and fuse size. At 48V
(Such a short circuit between the voltage levels without the short circuit will be accompanied by an electric (parallel)
connection to ground might destroy the complete 12V arc and therefore the current will be reduced [4] in comparison
System due to permanent overvoltage) to the short circuit without arc. In general a melting fuse can be
There is a common ground (chassis) potential for 12V and considered as feasible solution for classical short circuit
48V, which is connected by spatially divided wires and protection.
ground terminals.
(Loss of common ground might lead to reverse voltage on
Loss of Common Ground
the 12V side and thus destruction of 12V electronics)
As mentioned earlier and especially as one of the premises of
No component may lead to a transition into the overvoltage
LV 148, loss of common ground has to be avoided. The
level (54V (U48max, high, limited)) i.e. due to Load Dump or
recommendation here is separation. Separate GND
resonance step-up.
connections on dual voltage electronics as for instance DCDC
(This is a very important statement, as this requires special
converters and separate wires to separate GND bolts on the
measures at inductive loads and limits the effects of arcing)
chassis. If this is not feasible, alternatively an electronic GND
supervision should be installed which could switch off the
The statement mentioned first, that no electrical shock
power to the device when a failure is detected.
protection is required has led to the opinion, that 48V or any
voltage below 60V could be treated as 12V.
Voltage Short Circuit
This is correct concerning the system components as such like A short circuit between the voltage levels has to be avoided. As
wires, because they are validated for voltages up to 60V (LV stated in the LV 148 it must not occur by a single failure. Here
112 or ISO 6722). again the recommendation is separation:
But there are some effects at higher voltages like 48V which Separate routing of 14V and 48V power lines and low ohmic
might require additional system protection measures for sensor lines
technical reasons. Separate connectors for different voltage levels
Additional wall in cable channels if separate routing is not
One critical effect is arcing. If arcing occurs, the surrounding
feasible
materials might be set to fire due to the high temperature of the
plasma of around 6000C.[2],[3]
Alternatively the voltage short circuit can be handled by
Failure Modes in the 14V/48V E/E System Application of low-tolerance melting fuses on 48V
Shielded wires for 48V in order to force a short circuit to
GND
Shielded wires for 48V in order to detect an insulation fault
Application of (smart) MOSFETs for switching and output
supervision
Broken Wire
Broken wire is an arc - creating failure and stands as synonym
for any kind of intermittent contact like bad crimp, loose
terminal, loose connector, damaged insulation by abrasion. On
the contrary to the 14V E/E System, electric arcs are not
Figure 5. Failure modes in the 14V/48V E/E System self-extinguishing at 48V, as the length of the arc for a 2.4 kW
resistive load (50A @ 48V) can be up to 5 mm.
In figure 5 the different failure modes in the dual- or multi-
voltage E/E System are indicated. The high voltage area is In figure 6 some examples for arc length are given. The arc
neglected here, as there is no interaction between HV and the length depends on conductor material, power and type of load.
lower levels due to the fact that the HV System is considered If an inductive load is disconnected, a voltage overshot can be
safe by legal requirements. observed. Fortunately the LV 148 postulates, that no
component is allowed to generate a voltage entering the
overvoltage area of 54V (U48max, high, limited), meaning that
Short to Ground appropriate measures have to be taken inside the inductive
This failure mode is what we usually expect when a short load. If the disconnection or interruption is caused by a broken
circuit occurs. Due to the high current a melting fuse will open wire, the arc will extinguish when its maximum length is
the circuit and the current flow is interrupted. This is basically reached by material destruction.
This may be the really critical scenario because it occurs A: E < 5J small damage
unintended on the contrary to opening a connector. B: E < 20J material starts melting
C: E < 200J melting drops at edges
The scenario discussed more often is the Hot Plugging issue. Figure 10. hot disconnect @50A and 10 mm/s disconnection speed
When opening a connector with the load being active an arc
will be created. The degree of damage is linked to the arc At 50A, 10 mm/s disconnection speed we have an energy of
energy: around 310 Joule. The resulting damage is more spectacular.
The terminals might have to be exchanged.
The result can be seen in figure 11: large flame, melting At 48V (figure 13) the reaction is much more intensive. The
conductor. aqueous solution is boiling, material transport is seen by
change of color. This test was stopped after 15 seconds. The
terminals were destroyed due to corrosion.
Battery Box
In the 12V System the battery is usually a stand- alone
Figure 11. broken wire simulation @ 20A, 0.5 mm/s, conductor material
component with accessible permanently powered contacts.
copper
This should be avoided for the 48V Battery.
An additional issue at higher voltages is the effect of intensified
terminal corrosion. In the 14V system we distinguish between Due to the higher risk of arcing, the output to the environment
wet and dry areas. Sealed boxes and connection systems are should be switched and protected. The protection should
mandatory for wet areas as for instance engine compartment comprise:
and outer area of doors. In dry areas unsealed systems can be
applied. Electronic battery disconnection switch for output control in
different vehicle modes (production, transport, park, service,
How about the 48V system? Is it the same situation? We driving)
conducted a test where we applied salt water (5% NaCl) in the Pyrotechnical device for crash protection
male part of a 2-way 9.5 DUCON connection system and Master Fuse for overcurrent protection related to FET
connected the two terminals to 12V and GND, respectively 48V parameters
and GND. The result can be seen in figures 12 and 13.
Fuses had been developed for the 42V System and the
components can be applied in the 48V System as well, as the
border - requirements are the same. This is valid for relays as
well.
Figure 12. Corrosion test @ 12V
At 12V (figure 12) some gassing can be observed, but after the The arising question is:
test duration of 60 seconds the terminals show slight change in
color only. The functionality is still given. Will the functionality, as we know it from today's PDBs be
sufficient for the 48V System ?
Pre-Fuse Boxes
Right now there seems to be a trend that the Pre-Fuse-Box will
be an integral part of the 48V - Battery - DCDC Converter -
System.
This Box will provide a switchable and protected 48V Supply Figure 13. Delphi Energy Storage System Bi-Directional DCDC
to the vehicle (see DCDC converter section). Converter with battery pack included featuring Pre-Fuse functionality
Even if the pre-fuses are not part of that system, at least the Wires for 48V Application
switch will be inside the Box, supported by a crash protection Automotive wires are specified for a voltage range up to 60V
device. and therefore can be used in the 48V environment.
In this case the pre-fuses could be conventional MEGA(BF2) - Some effects like arcing at 48V require special care on wire
or MIDI(BF1) - like fuses for 48V. type selection.
Bussed Electrical Centers Aluminum wires are not recommended. If applied, special care
has to be taken for short circuit protection (electronic
So far we haven't seen a requirement for arc detection. For
supervision) and for vibration resistance.
wire protection functionality, conventional melting fuses could
be applied, although every short circuit will be accompanied by
Shielded wires like in HV Systems are not considered, if not
an electric arc. For that reason some OEMs are tending to go
required for EMC reasons.
for electronic protection instead of using melting fuses. Some
characteristics of conventional BECs in relation to 48V:
Routing
Available technology for fuses Routing will be defined according to RQA (routing quality
Available technology for relays assessment) plus application of a separation strategy. Special
12V and 48V close together at relays (Coil 12V, Contact consideration of routing passes and material selection for
48V) common connector should be avoided due to moving parts (doors, axles ), engine-compartment and
separation requirements for inter-voltage-short circuit underbody routing (environment).
protection
Hard wired boxes not preferred Materials
Durability of relays unclear Choice of wire types according to same procedures as for 12V
No arc detection systems. Special focus on flexibility for moving parts and areas
of high vibration impact to reduce the risk of broken wires,
especially with application of Aluminum wires.
Electric / Electronic Centers (Smart E/E centers)
The future for power distribution boxes will be smart E/E
Color Coding
centers. Here we can implement features like current
supervision, input/output comparison (arc detection).It is There is no standard color defined for 48V wiring and
possible to allow over-currents (inrush) for a defined time in components like in High Voltage Systems where all
order to design the wiring according to average current. components are marked orange. There was an approach by
General Motors to apply light blue color for wires on a 36V
(42V) level to distinguish those wires from the 12V level wiring
Electronic Modules (DCDC converters) related to the higher risk of arcing.
Currently there are Converters with a power-range of 3 kW in
discussion. For certain applications unidirectional converters
are sufficient, especially from HV to 12V or from 12V to 48V, if Connection Systems for 48V Application
only a single function has to be supplied, but in most cases a In general all the connection systems applied in the 12V E/E
bi-directional converter will be required. System can be used for the 48V System in terms of terminal
distance or creeping distance.
Related to the affinity to arcing and increased sensitivity to single cavity sealing and terminal position assurance to avoid
corrosion, precaution should be considered to avoid terminal unseated terminals. The connector can be closed only, if every
destruction. Taking the results of the salt water test (figure 13) part is seated correctly. Thus the chance for arcing is low.
into account, our recommendation here is to apply sealed
connection systems for every 48V application with different
potentials in one connector; for single cavity connectors it may
not be necessary.
Figure 16. Sealed connection system with DUCON 9.5 female terminal
The Delphi portfolio offers a wide range of available connection
for wire gauge up to 16 mm2 and continuous current up to 80A.
systems for this area of application.
When it comes to high current connections, for instance
Selection of a suitable system follows an evaluation procedure connections to the Motor - Generator and the 48V storage
as shown in figure 14, examples of available terminals are system, there is always the discussion whether to use bolt-type
shown in figure 15. connection or pluggable components. The related current level
is about 220A for some seconds and about 60A continuous
current. At this level pluggable devices are available at Delphi,
both solutions are feasible.
Assembly time
Space requirement for assembly
No tools needed for assembly
A typical connection system for 48V application with a power Component Level
demand of up to 4 kW is the DUCON 9.5 system shown in Place connector at places difficult to access
figure 16. It fulfills the requirements for wet area application as Tagging of connector
Establish repair guideline Separate routing of wiring branches or application of
Active barrier for plug and unplug shielded wires
Contact geometry Separate connectors for different voltage levels
Defined disconnection speed Electronic fusing
Separate grounding bolts and wires
System Level Use of sealed connection systems
Automatic disconnection with sensor contact inside the Accurate installation and material selection in order to avoid
connector arc faults
Manual disconnection with bridge contact
Arc detection References
1. NDE_VW82148-1_LV148.pdf LV 148 here: internal VW
standard
2. Kuhn, Paul K., Furse, Cynthia, Smith, Paul Locating
Hidden Hazards in Electrical Wiring University of Utah
LiveWire Test Labs Inc. Aged Electrical Systems Research
Application Symposium, October 18-19, 2006 Chicago,
Illinois
3. Hastings, J., Zuercher, J., and Hetzmannseder, E.,
Electrical Arcing and Material Ignition Levels, SAE
Technical Paper 2004-01-1565, 2004, doi:10.4271/2004-
01-1565.
4. Naidu, M., Schoepf, T., and Gopalakrishnan, S., Arc
Fault Detection Schemes for an Automotive 42 V Wire
Figure 18. Examples for Hot Plugging prevention on system level Harness, SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-1742, 2005,
doi:10.4271/2005-01-1742.
The last example in figure 18, arc detection, can be used for
detection of a serial arc caused by a broken wire as well. Contact Information
Malte.Kuypers@delphi.com
Comparison of output voltage at the power distribution device
and input voltage at the function control module will deliver an
indication about a fault-free system. A necessary requirement Acknowledgments
are detailed data of the function behavior. Preparation of this paper was supported by Delphi 48V Team:
Dominik Hermes, Stephan Terbeek, Frank Trommer, Andreas
Urbaniak, Christoph Wevelsiep.
Summary/Conclusions
Respecting some boundary conditions, the introduction of an
additional voltage level of 48V in the vehicle E/E System is
technically feasible.
The Engineering Meetings Board has approved this paper for publication. It has successfully completed SAEs peer review process under the supervision of the session
organizer. The process requires a minimum of three (3) reviews by industry experts.
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ISSN 0148-7191
http://papers.sae.org/2014-01-1790