Analysis of Influence of Design Parameters on Steered Wheels Shimmy of Heavy Vehicles

SUMMARY

In choosing the steering system parameters the tendency is towards the minimization of kinematic errors that appear during turning. For that developed procedures exist that take into account also the influence of kinematic of the suspension system on kinematic parameters of vehicle turning. Besides that, maintenance tests have shown, that increased deflections of the suspension system lead to increased wear of tires of steered wheels. In this paper, a method is developed for minimization of steered wheel shimmy and its wear also during the straight-line drive of heavy vehicles. The procedure can also be used in the phase of designing the heavy vehicles.     

多刚体系统动力学在汽车转向和悬架系统运动分析中的应用

多刚体系统动力学是近２０年发展起来的力学新分支。本文以该领域中的Ｒ－Ｗ方法为理论基础，编制了可自动建模半进行计算机值仿真计算的汽车转向，悬架运动分析通用程度，运用该程度对大量的实车进行了计算分析，经整车和转向悬架系统的试验结果表明，用该程序进行汽车转向，悬架运动分析，所得结果准确，计算迅速，可方便地进行转向，悬架设计方案的比较和参数的选择。     

麦式悬架系统运动分析

本文介绍了麦式悬架的结构形式、特点。根据该悬架实际的结构，在没有简化的情况下对其运动规律进行了精确分析；阐述了在车轮跳动及转向过程中悬架运动特性参数变化情况的计算方法，介绍了麦式悬架及转向系统的运动分析程序。     

Wear/comfort Pareto optimisation of bogie suspension

Pareto optimisation of bogie suspension components is considered for a 50 degrees of freedom railway vehicle model to reduce wheel/rail contact wear and improve passenger ride comfort. Several operational scenarios including tracks with different curve radii ranging from very small radii up to straight tracks are considered for the analysis. In each case, the maximum admissible speed is applied to the vehicle. Design parameters are categorised into two levels and the wear/comfort Pareto optimisation is accordingly accomplished in a multistep manner to improve the computational efficiency. The genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to perform the multi-objective optimisation. Two suspension system configurations are considered, a symmetric and an asymmetric in which the primary or secondary suspension elements on the right- and left-hand sides of the vehicle are not the same. It is shown that the vehicle performance on curves can be significantly improved using the asymmetric suspension configuration. The Pareto-optimised values of the design parameters achieved here guarantee wear reduction and comfort improvement for railway vehicles and can also be utilised in developing the reference vehicle models for design of bogie active suspension systems.     

Robustness analysis of bogie suspension components Pareto optimised values

Bogie suspension system of high speed trains can significantly affect vehicle performance. Multiobjective optimisation problems are often formulated and solved to find the Pareto optimised values of the suspension components and improve cost efficiency in railway operations from different perspectives. Uncertainties in the design parameters of suspension system can negatively influence the dynamics behaviour of railway vehicles. In this regard, robustness analysis of a bogie dynamics response with respect to uncertainties in the suspension design parameters is considered. A one-car railway vehicle model with 50 degrees of freedom and wear/comfort Pareto optimised values of bogie suspension components is chosen for the analysis. Longitudinal and lateral primary stiffnesses, longitudinal and vertical secondary stiffnesses, as well as yaw damping are considered as five design parameters. The effects of parameter uncertainties on wear, ride comfort, track shift force, stability, and risk of derailment are studied by varying the design parameters around their respective Pareto optimised values according to a lognormal distribution with different coefficient of variations (COVs). The robustness analysis is carried out based on the maximum entropy concept. The multiplicative dimensional reduction method is utilised to simplify the calculation of fractional moments and improve the computational efficiency. The results showed that the dynamics response of the vehicle with wear/comfort Pareto optimised values of bogie suspension is robust against uncertainties in the design parameters and the probability of failure is small for parameter uncertainties with COV up to 0.1.     

Independent Suspension, Self Steered Axle, and 4WS for Busses

The dynamic behavior of commercial vehicles fitted with differentr types of suspension mechanisms and steering devices is investigated in this paper. Six vehicle models have been constructed: 2WS-SA is a standard two wheel steering bus with solid axles; 2WS-DW is a 2WSA vehicle with independent double wishbone suspension in front and rear axles; SSA-SA is a 2WS system with solid axles, the rear one being mounted on a self steered mechanism; SSA-DW is a vehicle with independent double wishbone suspension in the front axle, and a solid self steered rear axle; 4WS-SA has four wheel steering with solid axles; and 4WS-DW is a 4WS vehicle with independent double wishbone suspension in front and rear axles. The dynamic response of these models has been assessed in terms of lateral acceleration, yaw velocity, tire forces, tire force reserves, and slip angles. The expected advantages of a 4WS system (higher acceleration rates and lower slip angles) will be corroborated but, at the same time, it will be shown that they are obtained at the cost of lower force reserves. Self steered mechanisms produce smaller body slip angles, but it will be shown that they give rise to larger yaw velocity overshootings. The particular independent suspension analyzed does not show significant improvements with respect to the solid axle counterpart.     

Fuzzy Logic Active and Semi-Active Control of Off-Road Vehicle Suspensions

For off-road vehicles, minimizing the absorbed power is the main objective of suspension control. The primary cause of increase in the absorbed power in off-road vehicles driven at high speeds on harsh courses is the exhaustion of the suspension travel. Fuzzy-logic approach to active and semi-active off-road vehicle suspension control, with the goal of improving the speed of the vehicle over rough terrains are developed. The ride metric used for quantifying improvements is the absorbed power of the sprung mass. Particular attention is paid to the proper modeling of the suspension using both the full kinematic constraints and the more convenient two degree of freedom linear model of the quarter vehicle suspension. The nonlinearities due to the kinematic constraints on motion are accounted for by modifying the stiffness and damping coefficients of the suspension spring and dashpot in the linear model. The control laws are developed using the less complex model and demonstrated in the fully constrained environment. Nonlinearities of the suspension, including tire stiffness/damping and bumpstops are included at all stages of controller development.     

Fuzzy Logic Active and Semi-Active Control of Off-Road Vehicle Suspensions

For off-road vehicles, minimizing the absorbed power is the main objective of suspension control. The primary cause of increase in the absorbed power in off-road vehicles driven at high speeds on harsh courses is the exhaustion of the suspension travel. Fuzzy-logic approach to active and semi-active off-road vehicle suspension control, with the goal of improving the speed of the vehicle over rough terrains are developed. The ride metric used for quantifying improvements is the absorbed power of the sprung mass. Particular attention is paid to the proper modeling of the suspension using both the full kinematic constraints and the more convenient two degree of freedom linear model of the quarter vehicle suspension. The nonlinearities due to the kinematic constraints on motion are accounted for by modifying the stiffness and damping coefficients of the suspension spring and dashpot in the linear model. The control laws are developed using the less complex model and demonstrated in the fully constrained environment. Nonlinearities of the suspension, including tire stiffness/damping and bumpstops are included at all stages of controller development.     

The Steering Characteristics of Multiple Axle Bogie Systems

Legislation limits the load that may be transferred to the roadway by the axies of a commercial vehicle and this has resulted in the development of multi axle bogies for both the tractor and trailer units of articulated vehicles and at the rear of rigid vehicles, some of these bogies contain self steering or articulation steered axles

Experience shows that the tyre wear characteristics of multi axle bogies may be unsatisfactory. The paper analyses the role of such bogies in the context of vehicle handling and shows how the lateral tyre forces vary between the axles. An hypotheses relating the forces in a steady state turn to wear is given. The analysis may also be applied to the general case of vehicle handling.     

The Steering Characteristics of Multiple Axle Bogie Systems

SUMMARY

Legislation limits the load that may be transferred to the roadway by the axies of a commercial vehicle and this has resulted in the development of multi axle bogies for both the tractor and trailer units of articulated vehicles and at the rear of rigid vehicles, some of these bogies contain self steering or articulation steered axles

Experience shows that the tyre wear characteristics of multi axle bogies may be unsatisfactory. The paper analyses the role of such bogies in the context of vehicle handling and shows how the lateral tyre forces vary between the axles. An hypotheses relating the forces in a steady state turn to wear is given. The analysis may also be applied to the general case of vehicle handling.     

Dynamic Characteristics of Steered Railway Vehicles and Implications to Design

Railway vehicles with steered axles possess some unique dynamic characteristics. This paper reviews the reasons for the differences between these and more conventional vehicles and examines the results of analysis demonstrating the sensitivity of the phenomena to various mass, stiffness and geometric parameters. The implications which these results carry are discussed in terms of their design importance and their effect upon the performance boundaries of steel-wheeled rail vehicles. This review shows that a profound understanding of steered axle railway vehicles is developing and that this leads to the conclusion that a wide range of applications can benefit from their use.     

Kinematics of a smart variable caster mechanism for a vehicle steerable wheel

The lateral force of a tyre is a function of the sideslip and camber angles. The camber angle can provide a significant effect on the stability of a vehicle by increasing or adjusting the required lateral force to keep the vehicle on the road. To control the camber angle and hence, the lateral force of each tyre, we can use the caster angle of the wheel. We introduce a possible variable and controllable caster angle ? in order to adjust the camber angle when the sideslip angle cannot be changed. As long as the left and right wheels are steering together according to a kinematic condition, such as Ackerman, the sideslip angle of the inner wheel cannot be increased independently to alter the reduced lateral force because of weight transfer and reduction of the normal load F _z . A variable caster mechanism can adjust the caster angle of the wheels to achieve their top capacity and maximise the lateral force, when needed. Such a system would potentially increase the safety, stability, and maneuverability of the vehicles. Using the screw theory, this paper will examine the kinematics of a variable caster and present the required mathematical equation to calculate the camber angle as a function of suspension mechanism parameters and other relevant variables. Having a steered wheel about a tilted steering axis will change the position and orientation of the wheel with respect to the body of the car. This paper provides the required kinematics of such a suspension and extracts the equations in special practical situations. The analysis is for an ideal situation in which we substitute the tyre with its equivalent disc at the tyre plane.     

New model and simulation of Macpherson suspension system for ride control applications

The main purpose of this paper is to propose a new nonlinear model of the Macpherson strut suspension system for ride control applications. The model includes the vertical acceleration of the sprung mass and incorporates the suspension linkage kinematics. This two-degree-of-freedom (DOF) model not only provides a more accurate representation of the Macpherson suspension system for control applications in order to improve the ride quality, but also facilitates evaluation of the suspension kinematic parameters, such as camber, caster and king-pin angles as well as track alterations on the ride vibrations. The performances of the nonlinear and linearised models are investigated and compared with those of the conventional model. Besides, it is shown that the semi-active force improves the ride quality better than active force, while the opposite is true in terms of improving the performance of the kinematic parameters. The results of variations of the kinematic parameters based on the linear model subject to road disturbances are compared with those of a virtual prototype of Macpherson suspension in ADAMS software. The analytical results in both cases are shown to agree with each other.     

Tire wear estimation based on nonlinear lateral dynamic of multi-axle steering vehicle

This paper presents a novel nonlinear dynamic model of a multi-axle steering vehicle to estimate the lateral wear amount of tires. Firstly, a 3DOF nonlinear vehicle dynamic model is developed, including dynamic models of the hydropneumatic suspension, tire, steering system and toe angle. The tire lateral wear model is then built and integrated into the developed vehicle model. Based on the comparison of experimental and simulation results, the nonlinear model is proved to be better than a linear model for the tire wear calculation. In addition, the effects of different initial toe angles on tire wear are analyzed. As simulation results shown, the impact of the dynamic toe angle on the tire wear is significant. The tire wear amount will be much larger than that caused by normal wear if the initial toe angle increases to 1° - 1.5°. The results also suggest that the proposed nonlinear model is of great importance in the design and optimazation of vehicle parameters in order to reduce the tire wear.     

Hybrid Laboratory Test Method for Anti-Lock Systems

SUMMARY

Railway vehicles with steered axles possess some unique dynamic characteristics. This paper reviews the reasons for the differences between these and more conventional vehicles and examines the results of analysis demonstrating the sensitivity of the phenomena to various mass, stiffness and geometric parameters. The implications which these results carry are discussed in terms of their design importance and their effect upon the performance boundaries of steel-wheeled rail vehicles. This review shows that a profound understanding of steered axle railway vehicles is developing and that this leads to the conclusion that a wide range of applications can benefit from their use.     

Characteristics of Guided-Steering Railway Trucks

The dynamic characteristics of guided-steering railway trucks are described both in a general sense and in terms of a specific design. Stability margins and curving performance have been predicted and are compared for both conventional and steered vehicles. It is shown that guided-steering trucks exhibit modes of instability which, although surmountable by proper design, are not found in conventional trucks. In particular, a low conicity, divergent, leading truck instability is described together with a companion high conicity, divergent trailing truck instability. Curving and dynamic performance for steered vehicles is shown to have the potential of being far superior to that of comparable conventional vehicles. Factors influencing the design of steered rail vehicles are presented and discussed.     

Kinematic design of double-wishbone suspension systems using a multiobjective optimisation approach

This paper is focused on the kinematic design of double-wishbone suspension systems in vehicles, which is tackled using a multiobjective dimensional synthesis technique. The synthesis goal is to optimise an RSSR–SS linkage, subject to some constraints involved in the dynamic behaviour of vehicles. The synthesis method is based on gradient determination using exact differentiation to obtain the elements in the Jacobian matrix. These characteristics make the method adapt well to the optimum design of vehicle suspension systems. The method is capable of handling equality and inequality constraints, thus, the usual ranges of values may be imposed on the functional parameters. The formulation presented is easy to implement and the solutions obtained demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the method.     

A simplified model for evaluating tire wear during conceptual design

In the field of vehicle dynamics, commercial software can aid the designer during the conceptual and detailed design phases. Simulations using these tools can quickly provide specific design metrics, such as yaw and lateral velocity, for standard maneuvers. However, it remains challenging to correlate these metrics with empirical quantities that depend on many external parameters and design specifications. This scenario is the case with tire wear, which depends on the frictional work developed by the tire-road contact. In this study, an approach is proposed to estimate the tire-road friction during steady-state longitudinal and cornering maneuvers. Using this approach, a qualitative formula for tire wear evaluation is developed, and conceptual design analyses of cornering maneuvers are performed using simplified vehicle models. The influence of some design parameters such as cornering stiffness, the distance between the axles, and the steer angle ratio between the steering axles for vehicles with two steering axles is evaluated. The proposed methodology allows the designer to predict tire wear using simplified vehicle models during the conceptual design phase.     

Heavy vehicle pitch dynamics and suspension tuning. Part I: unconnected suspension

The influence of suspension tuning of passenger cars on bounce and pitch ride performance has been explored in a number of studies, while only minimal efforts have been made for establishing similar rules for heavy vehicles. This study aims to explore pitch dynamics and suspension tunings of a two-axle heavy vehicle with unconnected suspension, which could also provide valuable information for heavy vehicles with coupled suspensions. Based on a generalised pitch-plane model of a two-axle heavy vehicle integrating either unconnected or coupled suspension, three dimensionless measures of suspension properties are defined and analysed—namely the pitch margin (PM), pitch stiffness ratio (PSR), and coupled pitch stiffness ratio (CPSR)—for different unconnected suspension tunings and load conditions. Dynamic responses of the vehicle with three different load conditions and five different tunings of the unconnected suspension are obtained under excitations arising from three different random road roughness conditions and a wide range of driving speeds, and braking manoeuvres. The responses are evaluated in terms of performance measures related to vertical and pitch ride, dynamic tyre load, suspension travel, and pitch-attitude control characteristics of the vehicle. Fundamental relationships between the vehicle responses and the proposed suspension measures (PM, PSR, and CPSR) are established, based on which some basic suspension tuning rules for heavy vehicles with unconnected suspensions are also proposed.     

路面抗滑性能影响弯道行车安全的仿真分析

为研究车辆制动工况下路面抗滑性能对弯道行车安全的影响,以车辆动力学分析软件AD-AMS为仿真平台,提出采用轮胎解析参数、整车参数、路面抗滑值构建耦合关联的车辆-轮胎-路面模型,在此基础上研究不同湿滑路面状态下弯道行驶车辆的运动学参数值变化情况,探索路面抗滑性能与表征行车安全风险的运动学参数值之间的关系.研究结果表明,路面抗滑性能影响车辆运动学参数值变化是诱发交通事故的主要因素.较低的弯道路面抗滑性能易使车辆在制动时出现急速横摆、甚至侧翻的交通事故;车辆两侧轮胎接地面抗滑值不均衡对弯道行车安全的影响高于对直道行车安全的影响,车辆极易在弯道制动时出现因抗滑值不均衡而无法保持有效转弯半径、进而冲出车道的交通事故.研究可为制定弯道行车安全的保障措施提供理论依据.