NVH Challenges and Improvements Implemented in Ford H2RV: An HEV Propelled with a Supercharged Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine

• Main Authors: Dhillon, Jaswant, Jih, Edward, Jaura, Arun
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0148-7191; 2688-3627
• DOI: 10.4271/2004-01-0061

Ford's H2RV (Hydrogen Hybrid Research Vehicle) uses a Hydrogen fueled Internal Combustion Engine. This engine has a higher compression ratio and a faster fuel-burning rate compared to a conventional gasoline engine. The conventional flywheel is replaced with an electric motor in the hybrid powertrain, which causes higher crankshaft torsionals and is a major NVH source. The engine has a centrifugal supercharger mounted on its front-end dress, which is a big source of NVH. Fans are used to cool the high voltage batteries and to provide ventilation of H2 in the case of a leakage. The body sheet metal has several holes for passive H2 ventilation, battery cooling, plumbing lines, and harness routing. Underhood hardware, due to the hybrid transmission and the H2 ICE, created major packaging challenges for the intake and FEAD NVH. The exhaust muffler volume was limited due to the installation of high voltage batteries and underbody H2 fuel tanks. The hardware changes in the vehicle affected overall NVH. In this paper, the authors discuss these challenges and actions implemented to improve the overall NVH.