| Abstract: | ![]()
This exploratory study considers applications of active aerodynamic devices for suppressing parasitic motion and for improving the response of vehicles to steering, within the scope of the linear dynamic behaviour. A three DOF linear model is chosen to describe the side slip, yaw and roll motion of a baseline front-wheel steered vehicle. The improvements in performance of the base-line vehicle that are achievable by the application of direct yaw and roll moments are determined when either an open loop control pre-filter or a state feedback control law based on LQR design is applied. Unlike the former control, the state feedback control is unable to make the body side-slip angle vanish. The feedback control performance of each of the two moment actuators has been examined separately and then jointly. The advantages of combining the open loop and feedback dual actuator configurations are demonstrated using the two-degree of freedom control scheme. It is found that the scheme yields a spectacular performance but demands unreasonably large moments from the actuators in the context of available aerodynamic forces. On the other hand, the demand on direct yaw and roll moment of actuators is modest when the actuators are controlled using the LQR feedback only and if the control design is used to track a desired yaw rate trajectory and simultaneously to reduce the parasitic rolling motion. Significant improvements in handling and dynamic stability of a base-line vehicle can be achieved by aerodynamically generated direct yaw and roll actuator moments provided the target control performance is reasonable. The configurations of aerodynamic actuators considered are feasible for improving vehicle handling in cornering on motorways but more work remains to be done to explore alternative aerodynamic configurations that give rise to less side effects and higher lift coefficients. |
