Mahle is presenting a world first at 2024 the IAA Transportation trade fair which is to be held in Hanover next month (September 17-22): a bionic high-performance fan which makes commercial vehicles significantly quieter.
The fan was developed for particularly demanding fuel cell and battery electric vehicles. When optimizing its ventilation blades with the use of AI, the Mahle engineers took inspiration from the wings of an owl: One of the quietest birds in the world, the owl’s plumage has a noise-reducing effect. The bionic fan blades can reduce the fan noise of a truck by up to 4 dB(A) – this is equal to more than halving the sound output. This significant reduction solves another challenge for e-mobility: loud fan noise, which can be disturbing both at full load as well as when charging the vehicle at night, whether in residential areas or during resting times at service stations.
The fan is also significantly more efficient than conventional designs, thanks to 10 percent better performance and a 10 percent lighter design. MAHLE also enables the use of its new bionic fan in passenger cars. The company is presenting the product to the public for the first time at the IAA Transportation. The commercial vehicle trade fair is set to take place in Hanover (Germany) from September 17–22, 2024.
“We learn from nature: It inspires us in many areas! We have already seen success with our bionic battery cooling plate, a technology which helped us significantly while optimizing our fan,” said Uli Christian Blessing, Head of Development Thermal Management at Mahle. “With the help of AI, we analyzed the characteristic features of bats, swordfish, and many other inspirations from nature. We finally ended up with the owl, the silent hunter, as the main template for our new fan.”
The design of the fan blades was modelled on owl wings and feathers. This minimizes noise turbulence and makes the fan much more quiet and also efficient. “One can imagine the sound reduction power of our fan to be like that of turning off one of the speakers on a stereo system,” Blessing said.
It is particularly in noise-sensitive areas that the new bionic high-performance fan shows its strength. During fast charging of vehicles, for example, reduced noise levels increase comfort for drivers and area residents alike. Mahle is offering the fan in a broad power range from 300 watts to 35 kW. This enables its use in small electric passenger cars all the way through to large, particularly temperature-sensitive fuel cell trucks. The first prototypes are already being trialled by various passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturers.
To save even more weight, Mahle also developed the fan cover and carrier in accordance with bionic principles. As a result, both components are more than 10 percent lighter, and have increased structural integrity.
Electrification and thermal management, i.e., heating and cooling, are closely interwoven. Efficient electrification is not possible without efficient thermal management. Mahle is among the few global suppliers active in both fields, where it leverages its excellent expertise to develop technical solutions for all drives.
Visitors to the IAA Transportation in Hanover this September can get a closer look at the fan. It is part of an exhibit ensemble representing the systemic Mahle approach to a fuel cell truck. Together with a fully functional fuel cell, it consists of fuel cell peripherals, thermal management (fan and battery cooling) and a heavy-duty electric axle. The e-axle is a demonstrator within which MAHLE has compactly integrated two of its SCT electric motors (for a total output of 520 kW) as well as a complete liquid management system. All these products have been developed, tested, and are ready for serial production.
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