9/4/2009

Available Tractive Effort

Road Vehicle Performance:  Tractive effort determined by:
Force of vehicle’s engine
Tractive Effort and Acceleration 

 Maximum value transferable

CE 322
Transportation Engineering
Dr. Ahmed Abdel-Rahim

Maximum Tractive Effort Maximum Tractive Effort

 Define the point at which additional Fig. 2.3
engine-generated tractive effort is not
productive.

 Examine a free body diagram

 L = wheelbase
 h = height of the center of gravity
 lf, lr = distance from the front, rear axle to the CG
 Wf, Wr = weight of vehicle on front, rear axle

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Maximum Tractive Effort Maximum Tractive Effort

 Examine the normal load on the drive axle.  Rearranging terms, assuming
cos g = 1, and then substituting into
 Assuming a rear-wheel drive car, determine the
normal load on the rear axle: Eq. 2.2 ( F = ma + Ra + Rrl + Rg ), yields:

lf h
Wr  W F  Rrl  Eq. 2.11
L L
Ra h  Wl f cos  g  mah  Wh sin  g
Wr  Eq. 2.10
L
Grade moment: + for incline

Maximum Tractive Effort Maximum Tractive Effort

 And from basic physics we know  Substituting Eq. 2.11 into Eq. 2.12 yields:
(for a rear-wheel-drive car):
W l f  f rl h  / L
Fmax  Eq. 2.14
Fmax  Wr Eq. 2.12
1  h / L

 Similarly, we have the following formula for a

 = coefficient of road adhesion
front-wheel-drive vehicle:

W lr  f rl h  / L
Fmax  Eq. 2.15
1  h / L

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Engine-Generated Engine-Generated
Tractive Effort (Fe) Tractive Effort (Fe)
Power = engine work per unit of time:
 Measures of engine output: 

 torque (Me) 2πM e ne 2 M e ne Eq. 2.16

hp e = Pe =
 power (hpe) 550 1000
 Torque = work generated by engine
hpe = engine-generated horsepower (1 horsepower equals
 the twisting moment and 550 ft-lb/s),

 expressed in foot-pounds (ft-lb). Pe = engine-generated power in kW,

Me = engine torque in ft-lb (N-m), and

ne = engine speed in crankshaft revolutions per second.

Engine-Generated Engine-Generated
Tractive Effort (Fe) Tractive Effort (Fe)
 Typical torque-power curve for a gasoline-powered  Tractive effort needed
engine
 greatest at lower vehicle speeds

 Torque available
 Greatest at higher engine speeds.

 What is the problem here?

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Engine-Generated Engine-Generated
Tractive Effort (Fe) Tractive Effort (Fe)
2re (1  i) Fig. 2.5
 Some tractive effort is lost
V
0  Sources of loss: transmission, differential
V = vehicle speed (fps),

r = drive wheel radius (ft),

 Tractive effort lost in driveline: 5-25%
ne = engine speed in
crankshaft
 mechanical efficiency term, d
revolutions per
second,

εo = overall gear ratio, and

i = slippage of drive axle.

Engine-Generated Engine-Generated
Tractive Effort (Fe) Tractive Effort (Fe)
 Tractive effort (0) is reduced  Engine-generated tractive effort
 engine crankshaft rev’s / drive wheel rev’s. reaching the drive wheel:
 What does an 0 = 3 mean? M e 0d
Fe  Eq. 2.17
 If 0 is high then what is max speed? r
2re (1  i) Fe = engine-generated tractive effort in lb (N)
V Me = engine torque in ft-lb (N-m)
0
r = radius of the drive wheels in ft (m)
 How does this relate to Fe?

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Engine-Generated
Tractive Effort (Fe) Tractive Effort (Fe)
 The relationship between vehicle speed  Available tractive effort (F)
and engine speed is:  Minimimum [Fmax, Fe]

2rne (1  i)  F = ma + Ra + Rrl + Rg (Eq. 2.2)

V Eq. 2.18
0  What happens if…
F = Ra + Rrl + Rg
V = vehicle speed in ft/s (m/s)


ne = engine speed in rev/s  F < Ra + Rrl + Rg

i = driveline slippage (generally taken as
2-5% for passenger cars)  F > Ra + Rrl + Rg

Vehicle Acceleration Vehicle Acceleration

 Eq. 2.2 can be used again, with an  Rearranging Eq. 2.2 with mass factor
additional term added

F = mma + Ra + Rrl + Rg
F   R  γ m ma Eq. 2.19

 Approximation of mass factor

 m = mass factor
 inertia of rotating parts γm = 1.04  0.0025ε02 Eq. 2.20

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Vehicle Acceleration Vehicle Acceleration

 Force available to accelerate:

Fnet  F   R Fig. 2.6

 Fnet = 0, vehicle at its top speed

 Relationship between Fnet, F (lesser of Fmax
and Fe) and R is shown in Fig. 2.6