Case Study: ACR Co Ltd improves turbocharger efficiency for EREV engines with Hexagon’s SC/Tetra CFD

Applying CFD to improve the efficiency of turbochargers for extended-range electric vehicles

ACR Co Ltd, a developer and manufacturer of vehicle exhaust filters, faced significant challenges in designing a highly efficient, small-scale turbocharger for a micro diesel engine intended for extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs). Their previous computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software was too difficult to operate and failed to produce validated results, hindering their development process. To overcome these design hurdles and meet their project goals, they turned to vendor Hexagon for a solution using its SC/Tetra CFD software.

Hexagon's SC/Tetra software enabled ACR engineers to successfully identify an optimal turbocharger vane geometry with a very small outflow angle, which analysis showed could increase efficiency by 10% compared to other products. The solution's high operability and the strong technical support from Hexagon were crucial, allowing ACR to validate their models and replace costly physical prototyping. This resulted in a drastically reduced development time and cost, with the added benefit of using metal 3D printing for accurate and cost-effective mass production of the complex new design.

ACR Co Ltd

Keiji Kishishita

Executive Engineer