Virtual test rig to improve the design and optimisation process of the vehicle steering and suspension systems

A virtual test rig is presented using a three-dimensional model of the elasto-kinematic behaviour of a vehicle. A general approach is put forward to determine the three-dimensional position of the body and the main parameters which influence the handling of the vehicle. For the design process, the variable input data are the longitudinal and lateral acceleration and the curve radius, which are defined by the user as a design goal. For the optimisation process, once the vehicle has been built, the variable input data are the travel of the four struts and the steering wheel angle, which is obtained through monitoring the vehicle. The virtual test rig has been applied to a standard vehicle and the validity of the results has been proven.     

Total dynamic response of a PSS vehicle negotiating asymmetric road excitations

A planar suspension system (PSS) is a novel automobile suspension system in which an individual spring–damper strut is implemented in both the vertical and longitudinal directions, respectively. The wheels in a vehicle with such a suspension system can move back and forth relative to the chassis. When a PSS vehicle experiences asymmetric road excitations, the relative longitudinal motion of wheels with respect to the chassis in two sides of the same axle are not identical, and thus the two wheels at one axle will not be aligned in the same axis. The total dynamic responses, including those of the bounce, pitch and the roll of the PSS vehicle, to the asymmetric road excitation may exhibit different characteristics from those of a conventional vehicle. This paper presents an investigation into the comprehensive dynamic behaviour of a vehicle with the PSS, in such a road condition, on both the straight and curved roads. The study was carried out using an 18 DOF full-car model incorporating a radial-spring tyre–ground contact model and a 2D tyre–ground dynamic friction model. Results demonstrate that the total dynamic behaviour of a PSS vehicle is generally comparable with that of the conventional vehicle, while PSS exhibits significant improvement in absorbing the impact forces along the longitudinal direction when compared to the conventional suspension system. The PSS vehicle is found to be more stable than the conventional vehicle in terms of the directional performance against the disturbance of the road potholes on a straight line manoeuvre, while exhibiting a very similar handling performance on a curved line.     

Decoupled 3D moment control using in-wheel motors

Vehicles equipped with in-wheel motors are being studied and developed as a type of electric vehicle. Since these motors are attached to the suspension, a large vertical suspension reaction force is generated during driving. Based on this mechanism, this paper describes the development of a method for independently controlling roll and pitch as well as yaw using driving force distribution control at each wheel. It also details the theoretical calculation of a method for decoupling the dynamic motions. Finally, it describes the application of these 3D dynamic motion control methods to a test vehicle and the confirmation of the performance improvement.     

Simultaneous observation of the wheels’ torques and the vehicle dynamic state

The goal of the present study is to show how it is possible to estimate online the individual torques applied at each wheel of an automotive vehicle by using an unknown input observer together with a simple nonlinear state-space model. The necessary measurements are the steering angle, the usual rotation speed of each wheel plus the vertical load at the centre of each wheel. By doing this, this study anticipates the affordability of a new generation of wheel bearing with embedded measurements of transmitted forces. Successful simulated experimentations using a realistic simulator are shown. Validations are done using classical case studies of longitudinal, lateral and coupled dynamics. The present limits and some possible improvements of the proposed method are also discussed.     

A combined use of phase plane and handling diagram method to study the influence of tyre and vehicle characteristics on stability

This paper deals with in-curve vehicle lateral behaviour and is aimed to find out which vehicle physical characteristics affect significantly its stability. Two different analytical methods, one numerical (phase plane) and the other graphical (handling diagram) are discussed. The numerical model refers to the complete quadricycle, while the graphical one refers to a bicycle model. Both models take into account lateral load transfers and nonlinear Pacejka tyre–road interactions. The influence of centre of mass longitudinal position, tyre cornering stiffness and front/rear roll stiffness ratio on vehicle stability are analysed. The presented results are in good agreement with theoretical expectations about the above parameters influence, and show how some physical characteristics behave as saddle-node bifurcation parameters.     

Optimisation of lateral car dynamics taking into account parameter uncertainties

Simulation studies on an active all-wheel-steering car show that disturbance of vehicle parameters have high influence on lateral car dynamics. This motivates the need of robust design against such parameter uncertainties. A specific parametrisation is established combining deterministic, velocity-dependent steering control parameters with partly uncertain, velocity-independent vehicle parameters for simultaneous use in a numerical optimisation process. Model-based objectives are formulated and summarised in a multi-objective optimisation problem where especially the lateral steady-state behaviour is improved by an adaption strategy based on measurable uncertainties. The normally distributed uncertainties are generated by optimal Latin hypercube sampling and a response surface based strategy helps to cut down time consuming model evaluations which offers the possibility to use a genetic optimisation algorithm. Optimisation results are discussed in different criterion spaces and the achieved improvements confirm the validity of the proposed procedure.     

Fault classification method for the driving safety of electrified vehicles

A fault classification method is proposed which has been applied to an electric vehicle. Potential faults in the different subsystems that can affect the vehicle directional stability were collected in a failure mode and effect analysis. Similar driveline faults were grouped together if they resembled each other with respect to their influence on the vehicle dynamic behaviour. The faults were physically modelled in a simulation environment before they were induced in a detailed vehicle model under normal driving conditions. A special focus was placed on faults in the driveline of electric vehicles employing in-wheel motors of the permanent magnet type. Several failures caused by mechanical and other faults were analysed as well. The fault classification method consists of a controllability ranking developed according to the functional safety standard ISO 26262. The controllability of a fault was determined with three parameters covering the influence of the longitudinal, lateral and yaw motion of the vehicle. The simulation results were analysed and the faults were classified according to their controllability using the proposed method. It was shown that the controllability decreased specifically with increasing lateral acceleration and increasing speed. The results for the electric driveline faults show that this trend cannot be generalised for all the faults, as the controllability deteriorated for some faults during manoeuvres with low lateral acceleration and low speed. The proposed method is generic and can be applied to various other types of road vehicles and faults.     

An investigation into the effect of suspension configurations on the performance of tracked vehicles traversing bump terrains

This is a theoretical investigation into the effect of various suspension configurations on a tracked vehicle performance over bump terrains. The model developed is validated using published experimental data of the modal characteristics of the vehicle. The desired performance is based on ride comfort via the mixed objective function (MOF), which combines the crest factor of bounce acceleration, bounce displacement, angular acceleration, and pitch angle. The optimisation process involves evaluating the MOF for different numbers and locations of dampers and under different rigid bump road conditions and speeds. The system responses of the selected suspension configurations in the time and frequency domains are compared against the undamped suspension. The results show that the suspension configurations have a significant effect on the vehicle mobility over bump road profiles. For a five-road–wheel half model of a tracked vehicle, the maximum number of dampers to use for ride comfort over these road bumps is three with the dampers located at wheel positions 1, 2 and 5. This confirms the current practice for many tracked vehicles with 10 road wheels. However, it is further shown that the suspension fitted with two dampers at the extreme road wheels offer the best performance over various rigid bump terrains.     

Improvement of vehicle–turnout interaction by optimising the shape of crossing nose

Proper rail geometry in the crossing part is essential for reducing damage on the nose rail. To improve the dynamic behaviour of turnout crossings, a numerical optimisation approach to minimise rolling contact fatigue (RCF) damage and wear in the crossing panel by varying the nose rail shape is presented in the paper. The rail geometry is parameterised by defining several control cross-sections along the crossing. The dynamic vehicle–turnout interaction as a function of crossing geometry is analysed using the VI-Rail package. In formulation of the optimisation problem a combined weighted objective function is used consisting of the normal contact pressure and the energy dissipation along the crossing responsible for RCF and wear, respectively. The multi-objective optimisation problem is solved by adapting the multipoint approximation method and a number of compromised solutions have been found for various sets of weight coefficients. Dynamic behaviour of the crossing has been significantly improved after optimisations. Comparing with the reference design, the heights of the nose rail are notably increased in the beginning of the crossing; the nominal thicknesses of the nose rail are also changed. All the optimum designs work well under different track conditions.     

Influence of uneven rail irregularities on the dynamic response of the railway track using a three-dimensional model of the vehicle–track system

A mathematical model of the vehicle–track interaction is developed to investigate the coupled behaviour of vehicle–track system, in the presence of uneven irregularities at left/right rails. The railway vehicle is simplified as a 3D multi-rigid-body model, and the track is treated as the two parallel beams on a layered discrete support system. Besides the car-body, the bogies and the wheel sets, the sleepers are assumed to have roll degree of freedom, in order to simulate the in-plane rotation of the components. The wheel–rail interface is treated using a nonlinear Hertzian contact model, coupling the mathematical equations of the vehicle–track systems. The dynamic interaction of the entire system is numerically studied in time domain, employing Newmark's integration method. The track irregularity spectra of both the left/right rails are taken into account, as the inputs of dynamic excitations. The dynamic responses of the track system induced by such irregularities are obtained, particularly in terms of the vertical (bounce) and roll displacements. The numerical model of the present research is validated using several benchmark models reported in the literature, for both the smooth and unsmooth track conditions. Four sample profiles of the measured rail irregularities are considered as the case studies of excitation sources, examining their influences on the dynamic behaviour of the coupled system. The results of numerical simulations demonstrate that the motion of track system is significantly influenced by the presence of uneven irregularities in left/right rails. Dynamic response of the sleepers in the roll direction becomes more sensitive to the rail irregularities, as the unevenness severity of the parallel profiles (quantitative difference between left and right rail spectra) is increased. The severe geometric deformation of the track in the bounce–pitch–roll directions is mainly related to such profile unevenness (cross-level) in left/right rails.