Improving crosswind stability of fast rail vehicles using active secondary suspension

Rail vehicles are today increasingly equipped with active suspension systems for ride comfort purposes. In this paper, it is studied whether these often powerful systems also can be used to improve crosswind stability. A fast rail vehicle equipped with active secondary suspension for ride comfort purposes is exposed to crosswind loads during curve negotiation. For high crosswind loads, the active secondary suspension is used to reduce the impact of crosswind on the vehicle. The control input is taken from the primary vertical suspension deflection. Three different control cases are studied and compared with the only comfort-oriented active secondary suspension and a passive secondary suspension. The application of active secondary suspension resulted in significantly improved crosswind stability.     

侧风状态下轿车气动特性数值模拟方法的研究

采用3种不同方法,利用计算流体力学软件FLUENT对侧风状态下轿车的气动特性进行了数值模拟,得到了不同侧风状态下轿车气动阻力系数和侧力系数随横摆角而变化的曲线。讨论了不同方法的优缺点并将模拟结果与风洞实验进行对比,结果表明采用合适的数值模拟方法可省时省力地获得接近于实验的结果。     

Crosswind Sensitivity of Passenger Cars and the Influence of Chassis and Aerodynamic Properties on Driver Preferences

Results of vehicle crosswind research involving both full-scale driver-vehicle tests and associated analyses are presented. The paper focuses on experimental crosswind testing of several different vehicle configurations and a group of seven drivers. A test procedure, which utilized wind-generating fans arranged in alternating directions to provide a crosswind “gauntlet”, is introduced and described. Driver preferences for certain basic chassis and aerodynamic properties are demonstrated and linked to elementary system responses measured during the crosswind gauntlet tests. Based on these experimental findings and confirming analytical results, a two-stage vehicle design process is then recommended for predicting and analyzing the crosswind sensitivity of a particular vehicle or new design.     

A comparative study of equivalent modelling for multi-axle vehicle

In this paper, equivalent modelling methods of a multi-axle vehicle are presented and compared. Firstly, for the sake of comparison, a single-track model of a three-axle and a two-axle vehicle is developed, and then existing equivalent modelling derivations are presented and discussed. Next, the proposed model-based dynamic equivalence of force/moment at the centre of gravity (CG) is introduced and optimised. It represents the approximately equivalent steady-state and transient response of the yaw rate and side slip angle, which allows different cornering stiffness on the central and rear axle. Finally, to demonstrate how the proposed method is advantageous to the other equivalent models available in the literature, different simulation cases are compared in the dimension of time-domain, eigenvalues characteristics and frequency-domain. Furthermore, the proposed method is extended to any multi-axle vehicle configurations and a general expression is formulated.     

全寿命成本分析法在侧风影响下桥梁行车安全决策中的应用

为了顺利进行桥梁行车安全决策,基于全寿命成本分析法的基本原理,采用计算社会成本的方法综合考虑公众安全和社会效益,对侧风影响下桥梁行车安全设计方案的全寿命成本内容进行分析研究,并提出计算其全寿命成本的思路。其中,社会成本的计算主要研究采取管理措施关闭大桥导致的运输成本增加和侧风导致的事故人员伤亡损失,并总结出其考虑资金时间效应的计算模型。最后,以某跨海大桥的行车安全决策问题为例进行示例研究,在研究得到的数据和假定参数的基础上计算出各安全决策方案的全寿命期业主成本和社会成本并进行比较研究,以说明全寿命成本分析法在桥梁行车安全决策中的应用。     

Effect of rear slant angle on vehicle crosswind stability simulation on a simplified car model

It is important to know the effect of the aerodynamic forces and moments on driving stability because it is responsible for the excitation and influences the response of the vehicle. The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of rear slant angle of a surface vehicle on crosswind sensitivity for stability analysis. The vehicle mathematical model used to conduct a dynamic simulation was based on a simple reduced order lateral dynamics of sideslip and yaw rate motion coupled with aerodynamics model. The intention here is to compare the effect of rear slant angles response to crosswind and to rank the crosswind sensitivity ratings. The aerodynamic loads are defined as the function of the aerodynamic derivatives from the static wind tunnel tests. Result shows a 20° rear slant angle demonstrates the highest rating of crosswind sensitivity, while zero degree slant exhibits the least.     

High speed driving stability of passenger car under crosswind effects

The driving stability of a passenger car at high-speed and under crosswind conditions is affected by aerodynamic characteristics as well as their dynamic characteristics, suspension, and weight distribution. In this study, the total measuring system was thought up to understand the transient vehicle dynamics and aerodynamics with driver’s control inputs all together. The test results were taken from a full-scale wind tunnel test, a crosswind generator test and an on-road test. We investigated major aerodynamic parameters that affect the driving stability of passenger cars under crosswind effects such as overtaking, passing each other, natural crosswind, etc. The reaction rate of high-speed stability will be improved when we minimize the total lift, side force and especially the yawing moment.     

Generalised multi-axle vehicle handling

The familiar two-axle bicycle model and associated basic concepts of vehicle handling are reviewed and used to introduce minor changes in convention from the literature. The two-axle model is extended to a three-axle vehicle to illustrate the effectiveness of the notation combined with a simplifying mathematical identity found in the two-axle vehicle literature. A generalised model is then developed that produces dynamic equations of motion by inspection for a vehicle with an arbitrary number of steerable and non-steerable axles. Furthermore, the vehicle dynamic concepts of understeer and wheelbase are generalised and can be directly computed for various arbitrary vehicle configurations.     

Crosswind Feedforward Control - A Measure to Improve Vehicle Crosswind Behaviour

The theory of crosswind feedforward control was explained using the example of a vehicle with active front-wheel steering. Beforehand, the calculation formulas and frequency responses of the transient crosswind force and of the wind yaw moment acting on the vehicle were derived using the example of a simple vehicle fluid model. The influence of the transiency of crosswind disturbance on the dynamic crosswind behaviour of a vehicle was then presented. The results of simulation confirmed the analyses carried out in the frequency domain for feedforward control with front, rear and all-wheel steering. With front-wheel steering, the influence of crosswind on one of the vehicle movement variables (lateral acceleration or yaw rate) could be almost completely compensated by dynamic feedforward control. With rear-wheel steering, it is only possible to compensate directly for the influence on the yawing rate. Due to the setting of the side force in the same direction as the lateral wind force at the start, active rear-wheel steering is not so successful as active front-wheel steering. Nevertheless, the crosswind behaviour of a vehicle can be considerably enhanced by feedforward control with rear-wheel steering. The best crosswind behaviour was obtained with active all-wheel steering: the vehicle hardly responds at all to crosswinds and remains on course despite heavy gusts of wind.     

Improved calibration of simulation models in railway dynamics: application of a parameter identification process to the multi-body model of a TGV train

This paper aims at estimating the vehicle suspension parameters of a TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) train from measurement data. A better knowledge of these parameters is required for virtual certification or condition monitoring applications. The estimation of the parameter values is performed by minimising a misfit function describing the distance between the measured and the simulated vehicle response. Due to the unsteady excitation from the real track irregularities and nonlinear effects in the vehicle behaviour, the misfit function is defined in the time domain using a least squares estimation. Then an optimisation algorithm is applied in order to find the best parameter values within the defined constraints. The complexity of the solution surface with many local minima requires the use of global optimisation methods. The results show that the model can be improved by this approach providing a response of the simulation model closer to the measurements.     

Crosswind Feedforward Control – A Measure to Improve Vehicle Crosswind Behaviour

SUMMARY

The theory of crosswind feedforward control was explained using the example of a vehicle with active front-wheel steering. Beforehand, the calculation formulas and frequency responses of the transient crosswind force and of the wind yaw moment acting on the vehicle were derived using the example of a simple vehicle fluid model. The influence of the transiency of crosswind disturbance on the dynamic crosswind behaviour of a vehicle was then presented. The results of simulation confirmed the analyses carried out in the frequency domain for feedforward control with front, rear and all-wheel steering. With front-wheel steering, the influence of crosswind on one of the vehicle movement variables (lateral acceleration or yaw rate) could be almost completely compensated by dynamic feedforward control. With rear-wheel steering, it is only possible to compensate directly for the influence on the yawing rate. Due to the setting of the side force in the same direction as the lateral wind force at the start, active rear-wheel steering is not so successful as active front-wheel steering. Nevertheless, the crosswind behaviour of a vehicle can be considerably enhanced by feedforward control with rear-wheel steering. The best crosswind behaviour was obtained with active all-wheel steering: the vehicle hardly responds at all to crosswinds and remains on course despite heavy gusts of wind.     

On the equivalent wheelbase of a three-axle vehicle

The steady-state handling properties of a rigid vehicle with a tandem rear axle configuration are developed. This work uses conventions resulting in a parsimonious characterisation of steady-state handling of such three-axle vehicles that is shown to be a simple extension of the well-known two-axle bicycle model. Specifically the concepts of understeer and wheelbase are developed for a three-axle vehicle, and shown to play the same role in characterising vehicle handling as they do in the well-known two-axle vehicle model. An equivalent wheelbase of a three-axle vehicle is expressed in terms of vehicle geometry and cornering stiffness of each axle. The model developed in this work is reconciled with previous models that make use of simplifying assumptions found in the literature.     

高速行驶遭遇侧风的SUV汽车气动特性模拟研究

采用计算流体力学和合成风方法研究某SUV汽车高速行驶遭遇比较危险强度侧风下的外流场分布并得到气动力（矩）及系数。该方法使乘用车高速行驶遭遇危险侧风情况下气动特性预测成为可能。为深入研究高速行驶侧风作用下乘用车气动特性以及结合汽车操纵动力学对侧风稳定性进行动力学仿真提供了有利的参考。     

智能网联环境下基于安全势场理论的车辆跟驰模型

为有效刻画未来智能网联环境下交通流微观跟驰行为，以更加精确地进行车辆的运动决策，建立了基于安全势场理论下的车辆跟驰模型。模型以势场理论为基础，首先阐述了交通环境中安全势场的客观性、普遍性以及可测性，然后通过引入加速度参数对既有安全势场模型进行改进，改进后的安全势场模型能够有效刻画出在不同速度、加速度值下车辆安全势场的变化趋势。在分析安全势场变化基础上，构建的车辆跟驰模型强化了加速度参数对车辆跟驰行为的影响，由于不同速度、加速度信息在智能网联环境下车辆可以实时获取，因此该模型可应用于未来智能网联环境中。此外，在模型参数标定过程中，通过对NGSIM数据进行筛选，得到含有较多减速停车以及启动加速状态的轨迹数据，共筛选得到412组NGSIM真实跟驰车对数据，并最终利用人工蜂群算法对该模型进行参数标定。为评估模型仿真效果，选择OVM模型、IDM模型与本文模型进行比较，并选取均方根误差RMSE和平均绝对百分误差MAPE为参数标定结果评价与验证的指标，结果表明，建立的基于安全势场理论的车辆跟驰模型具有良好的精度，适用于描述考虑加速度参数条件下的跟驰行为，可为今后智能网联环境下车辆微观驾驶安全决策、交通流中观安全势场分布、交通流宏观状态估计等奠定理论基础。     

混合动力汽车多途径节能定量研究

文中分析了动力总成的能量消耗特点及功率流关系,提出了混合动力汽车的4条节能途径,并计算城市客车在典型城市工况下的燃油及能量消耗。分别对各节能途径进行了节能贡献的分析,最后总结了各城市工况下最大的总节能潜力。     

Active control strategy for the running attitude of high-speed train under strong crosswind condition

This paper focuses on the safety of high-speed trains under strong crosswind conditions. A new active control strategy is proposed based on the adaptive predictive control theory. The new control strategy aims at adjusting the attitudes of a train by controlling the new-type intelligent giant magnetostrictive actuator (GMA). It combined adaptive control with dynamic matrix control; parameters of predictive controller was real-time adjusted by online distinguishing to enhance the robustness of the control algorithm. On this basis, a correction control algorithm is also designed to regulate the parameters of predictive controller based on the step response of a controlled objective. Finally, the simulation results show that the proposed control strategy can adjust the running attitudes of high-speed trains under strong crosswind conditions; they also indicate that the new active control strategy is effective and applicable in improving the safety performance of a train based on a host–target computer technology provided by Matlab/Simulink.     

Investigation of Discretionary Lane-Change Characteristics Using Next-Generation Simulation Data Sets

In this article, we investigate discretionary lane change (DLC) characteristics using Next Generation SIMulation (NGSIM) data sets. We first develop a set of heuristic rules to automatically filter out abnormal samples from a massive trajectory data set and identify DLC trajectories from a mixture of mandatory lane change (MLC) and DLC trajectories. Then, we investigate a variety of DLC characteristics. We demonstrate that the kernel part of every normal DLC trajectory can be approximately depicted by a certain fifth-order polynomial. Moreover, we discuss the definition of begin/end points of DLC actions and show that the duration time of DLC actions follows a log-normal distribution with respect to navigation speed. All the findings can help promote temporal and spatial accuracy of lane changing models.     

Dynamic performance of high-speed train passing windbreak breach under unsteady crosswind

Field test and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method are conducted to investigate the safety of high-speed train under unsteady crosswind. Wheel–rail forces of high-speed train passing a breach between two windbreaks under strong crosswind are measured in a field test. The derailment coefficient of first wheelset of front car at the windward side reaches the allowable value. Meanwhile, the left and right of lateral wheel–rail force are in the opposite direction. This kind of phenomenon has not been tested before. Therefore, CFD and multi-body simulations are performed in order to study the phenomena. Good agreement is obtained between the simulation results and the experimental data. It is concluded that the sudden increase of transient aerodynamic loads, when the train passing the breach, is the root of this phenomenon; after running along the same direction as carbody and bogie run along the opposite direction during the high-speed train passing the windbreak breach; larger opposite longitudinal creeping forces of first wheelset compel the first wheelset to yaw toward the windward side; meanwhile, larger lateral wheel–rail forces compel the first wheelset to run toward the windward side rail; the left and right lateral wheel–rail forces become opposite because the right wheel impacts the windward side rail.     

Self-tuning control algorithm design for vehicle adaptive cruise control system through real-time estimation of vehicle parameters and road grade

The main purpose of this paper is to design a self-tuning control algorithm for an adaptive cruise control (ACC) system that can adapt its behaviour to variations of vehicle dynamics and uncertain road grade. To this aim, short-time linear quadratic form (STLQF) estimation technique is developed so as to track simultaneously the trend of the time-varying parameters of vehicle longitudinal dynamics with a small delay. These parameters are vehicle mass, road grade and aerodynamic drag-area coefficient. Next, the values of estimated parameters are used to tune the throttle and brake control inputs and to regulate the throttle/brake switching logic that governs the throttle and brake switching. The performance of the designed STLQF-based self-tuning control (STLQF-STC) algorithm for ACC system is compared with the conventional method based on fixed control structure regarding the speed/distance tracking control modes. Simulation results show that the proposed control algorithm improves the performance of throttle and brake controllers, providing more comfort while travelling, enhancing driving safety and giving a satisfactory performance in the presence of different payloads and road grade variations.     

Comparing rear wheel steering and rear active differential approaches to vehicle yaw control

A comparison between two different approaches to vehicle stability control is carried out, employing a robust non-parametric technique in the controller design. In particular, an enhanced internal model control strategy, together with a feedforward action and a suitably generated reference map, is employed for the control of a vehicle equipped either with a rear wheel steering (RWS) system or with a rear active differential (RAD) device. The uncertainty arising from the wide range of operating conditions is described by an additive model set employed in the controller design. Extensive steady state and transient tests simulated with an accurate 14 degrees of freedom nonlinear model of the considered vehicle show that both systems are able to improve handling and safety in normal driving conditions. RAD devices can make the vehicle reach higher lateral acceleration values but they achieve only slight stability improvements against oversteer. On the other hand, 4WS systems can greatly improve both vehicle safety and manoeuvrability in all driving situations, making this device an interesting and powerful stability system.