Modeling and Analysis of a Vehicle Suspension

Liviu Mihon ✉ and Nicolae Lontiș

( )

Politehnica University, 300006 Timișoara, TM, Romania

[email protected]

Abstract. The present paper will be focused on determining the tire-suspension

assembly behavior involved in vehicle dynamics for a car through a dedicated
model developed in Matlab/Simulink software. The Matlab/Simulink environ‐
ment will be used, by the last release, 2018a, which offer a dedicated powertrain
and vehicle dynamic modules. The analysis will use a model for the tires and a
model for the suspension response for a vehicle configuration. The road simula‐
tion will be used for a complex analysis of the car response as input in model
simulation. Will be expected models and mathematical equations for a complete
simulation, with Simulink environment, in order to obtain rapid responses and
pre evaluation of complex analysis for car-environment interaction. The study
could be applied, in this analysis, only for a dedicated type of suspension, from
the geometry point of view, but not limited to the viscosity and cinematic response
of the damping assembly. The Matlab/Simulink parametrization will allow
multiple ways parameters changing and time response of the model will shorten
the analytical studies of vehicle dynamics.

Keywords: Tire · Suspension · Vehicle dynamics · Modeling

1 Introduction

Road vehicle’s movement on a dedicated surface, like concrete and asphalt, could be
controlled by a driver in longitudinal and transverse directions as well as around the
vertical axis (yaw rotation) within the limits imposed by the physical laws and the
surfaces interaction through adherence. The transverse and yaw movement are very well
connected each other.
In the vertical direction the movement of the vehicle follows the roadway, including
all the bumps (ascending or descending) and declivities, without any action on the part
of the driver. For comfort and a safety driving all these irregularities of the road should
be minimized through the tires and suspension system of the vehicle.
Thus, the suspension of a vehicle could be precept as a complex system which
generate forces at the tire’s contact patches and serve to transmit these to the vehicle:
wheels and tires, brakes, suspension arms, hubs and nuts, steering system, springs and
shock absorbers [1].
Due to his role of linking the vehicle and the road, the suspension system direct
influence the handling dynamics and ride comfort and also affects space utilization,
aerodynamics and costs. The suspension alone is not decisive in establishing handling

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

N. Burnete and B. O. Varga (Eds.): AMMA 2018, PAE, pp. 113–121, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94409-8_14
114 L. Mihon and N. Lontiș

dynamics and ride comfort of the vehicle, but the overall vehicle size, center of gravity
height, weight distribution, wheelbase and truck and aerodynamics, at high speeds,
influence also the vehicle’s behavior. Starting from this basic concept, where the vehi‐
cle’s driving consists of moving a body within the atmosphere and the gravity field and
in this process the forces (vertical, propulsion and braking, lateral guiding) are trans‐
mitted to the road by tire contact patches, we will take in consideration all these forces
for vehicle’s dynamics analysis [2].

2 Vehicle System

The stability of a vehicle is dictated by his interaction with the road through the tire—
road surface contact and in direct correlation with position (speed vector) and power/
brake demand of the car on the road.
The new field for improvements of vehicle stabilizing and safety functions is based
on a complex system optimization, starting from the wheel-tire group (with surface
friction utilization of the propulsion/brake wheel, in critical situations) and continuing
with suspension assembly. It is well known that a locked wheel only produces a force
in the sliding direction of the tire and a higher tire force can be obtained only from a
rolling wheel. Thus, there is an optimal wheel rotation velocity, depending on the tire
properties, surface condition and vehicle motion, for which the tire develops its maximal
friction force. Modern braking equipment, new clutches and transmission gears allow a
new approach to the control and command of these systems and the possibilities for
stable control of the wheel velocity in such situations. When increasing the performances
of the braking control loop (proportional with the vehicle’s speed) the dynamic effects
of the mechanical systems supporting the brake and participating in the transmission of
the force to the road become crucial.
Deflections in suspension, bushings, and the tire (road irregularities) delay the gener‐
ated tire force acting on the vehicle and may cause disturbances in system response and
could produce instability of the vehicle. The inertia of the wheel rim/tire might cause
unwanted oscillations. Hence, utilization of modelling in simulation of control for faster
acceleration/brakes maneuvers requires specific algorithms and simulation to predict
and estimate the dynamics of the vehicle. The suspension assembly response depends
also on the “evaluation” of the vehicle’s behaviour that are continuously evaluated and
measured by the sensors of the modern cars and, for some adjustable models, could adapt
the movement of the suspended mass of the vehicle, improved the stability (longitudinal
and transversal) and reduce the oscillations of the body of the car. All of these will be
studied and modelled in order to reduce the time and costs of the experimental studies.

2.1 Rim and Tire

The pneumatic tire is a flexible structure that together with the rim holds the pressure
of the inflated air. The most important functions of the tire are to reduce vibrations from
unevennesses in the road and to achieve a high friction coefficient in the interaction with
 Modeling and Analysis of a Vehicle Suspension 115

the road surface. The model will take in consideration the two ordinary ways in designing
the tire, radial-ply and bias-ply.
Taking in consideration the standardization of the tire through ISO 8855 and TYDEX
(Tyre Data Exchange Format) as tire model parameters [3–5], there will be a corre‐
sponding approach as Simulink model of the tire working conditions. Thus, for the tire
kinematics will be used a model which respect the notations in Fig. 1(left) and for forces
and moments the notation in Fig. 1(right).

Fig. 1. Kinematic (left) and forces and moments (right) of the considered tire

In these figures there were used the following notations: v—wheel velocity (as scalar
and also as a vector, with the bar above the letter), with his two components, vx and vy
on x and y axis (as scalars and vectors with x and y subscripts), vs—wheel slip velocity,
α—slip angle (measured as arctangent of the vy/vx ratio). There are also ω—free wheel
speed, F—forces, with corresponding components on x (longitudinal) or y (lateral) and
z (vertical) direction and Mz—moment produced by the steering/direction system or as
the self-aligning torque of the wheel.

2.2 Vehicle’s Suspension

The major longitudinal forces transmitted from the road to the vehicle body are propul‐
sion and braking forces. The primary task of propulsion and braking forces is to control
longitudinal dynamics of the vehicles by acceleration and speed. Longitudinal acceler‐
ation also gives rise to pitching and vertical motions. Coupling depends on center of
gravity position, wheelbase and suspension kinematics. Stabilizing factor are pitch and
lift stiffness but also shock absorber damping. For a live axis the driveshaft torque reac‐
tion on the body must also be considered. As a result of vehicle acceleration or braking
[3] there are changing of the instantaneous normal forces at the front and rear axles as
a dynamic weight transfer reaction. The elastokinematic toe changes due to the direct
changes in tire tangential force and indirectly by the changes in wheel travel and the
resulting change in side forces, generate side force components which affect vehicle
handling. Toe changes on the other hand allow to improve the handling response of the
vehicle’s braking system as response to the load changes. Figure 2 [6] present the general
problem of a vehicle under the loads and movements constraints and degrees of freedom
(displacements, accelerations, rotations), with specific notations.
116 L. Mihon and N. Lontiș

Fig. 2. Vehicle model with applied forces

The simulation and analysis of vehicle models is influenced significantly by the type
and the temporal behaviour of the applied forces. For a complete study one differentiates
between different fundamental types of forces: (i) external and internal forces and
torques, (ii) applied and reaction forces and torques and (iii) surface and volume forces.
The first category (i) depends on the boundaries of the system in question. The outside
forces and torques acting on said system are referred to as external forces. The forces
acting within a system are thus referred to as the internal forces.
Through a change in the system boundaries, the internal forces become external
forces of the new system boundaries. The second category (ii) refers to the source of the
forces. Applied forces can be described using the physical force laws with respect to
position and velocity. The applied forces in vehicle systems are the forces due to gravity,
the spring and damper forces, but also the gas forces in the cylinders of the combustion
engine, the air forces and especially the tire forces. The reaction forces are the forces
occurring inside the joints. If modeling the wheel and the road surface as rigid bodies,
the normal forces from the road to the wheels are reaction forces. In the case of the
modeling of the wheel with an elastic tire however, they are considered to be applied
forces. The third category (iii) refers to the distribution of the forces. Surface forces are
constrained on a surface, and the volume forces are distributed spatially. The surface
forces in vehicles are the wind forces and the forces between the road surface and the
thread of the tire. The volume forces in vehicles consist of all the forces that are due to
gravity.
Another differentiation results from the temporal characteristic of the forces. One
differentiates between forces with deterministic, and those with stochastic temporal
characteristics. Deterministic forces are defined explicitly through their time functions.
Stochastic forces do not possess a rule based temporal characteristic and need to be
described using statistical methods.
For stability and driving comfort of a vehicle there is also important to reduce at
maximum the tangential force differences between left and right sides, by appropriate
choice of brake system and, for the driven axles, by use of a differential. In this situation
the brake and slip control are similarly tuned. The yaw moment caused by unequal
 Modeling and Analysis of a Vehicle Suspension 117

tangential forces may also be employed positively. Limited-slip and locking differentials
generate a locking effect which tends to produce a correcting yaw moment, tending to
bring the car back to a straight path. In order to prevent exaggerated understeer in accel‐
eration, the differential locking effect is limited. In decelerating process, using engine
braking, differential locking torque helps to compensate for oversteering moments
caused by dynamic weight transfer. To improve the stability of the vehicle using this
effect some vehicles use differentials with a higher limited slip factor while under engine
braking than in acceleration. So, the vehicle stability control may be realized by means
of differentials with controllable locking torque, which permit introduction of a
correcting yaw moment.
Modern brake control systems use deliberate, controlled, asymmetric, driver-
independent brake intervention to stabilize the vehicle at the handling limit.
Vertical forces, acting at the wheel road surface patch than transmitted and applied
between suspension and body, consist mainly of spring and shock absorber (damping)
forces. Their task is to support the vehicle’s sprung mass on the wheels and impose limits
on vehicle lift, roll and pitch motion relatively to the road surface. Through the extent
limit permitted by spring travel, the body should be isolated against road surface irreg‐
ularities and dynamic changes in wheel load minimized. Tire normal forces differ from
the corresponding spring and shock absorber forces introduced to the body by the inertia
of unsprung masses. The spring and shock absorber forces, Fig. 3, through their vertical
reaction forces from tire and tangential forces also affect the body, as do unsprung
masses. These forces results from coupling of the tire contact patch longitudinal and
transverse movement in response to vertical suspension motion (antidive, antisquat,
sideforce reaction angle). These effects are used to reduce roll and pitch angles.

Fig. 3. The quarter-vehicle model

2.3 One Dimensional Quarter Vehicle Model

In order to be able to assess the possibilities and limits of mechanical systems, the use
of theoretical mathematical techniques has proven to be of great value. By means of a
suitable reduction of the model, the computing time and interpretability of the results
can be optimized. Thus it was used a simple equivalent mass-spring system in order to
theoretically analyze the vehicle vibrations in vertical direction. The influence of vehicle
118 L. Mihon and N. Lontiș

suspension and damping, wheel mass and tire elasticity on comfort and range of spring
deflection can be determined simply by using quarter vehicle models.
The vehicle model hereby consists of a two-body-system, which is linked to a wheel
model, Fig. 3. This model reduction is acceptable for a passenger car because the
coupling masses are usually very small compared to the car body mass. Because the
influence on vibration’s properties are reduced, for a correct analyze we neglect also the
effects of pitch and roll oscillations in the evaluation of comfort.
In Fig. 3 [3] the notations are the following: x, y and z are the current position
coordinate (and also Cartesian versors of axis), mA is the body mass, expressed as ratio
from the whole vehicle mass, mR is the wheel assembly mass and respectively, cA is the
vehicle body spring stiffness, cR is the wheel spring stiffness and dA is the vehicle body
suspension damper.
The contact to the road is established via the wheel (the patch with the road surface),
which is modeled through the spring stiffness cR. The equations of linear momentum for
the system in z-direction, in accordance with Fig. 4 notations are:
( ) ( )
mA z̈ A + dA ż A − ż R + cA zA − zR = 0 (1)
( ) ( )
mR z̈ R − dA ż A − ż R − cA zA − zR + cR zR = cR zS (2)

Equation 1 refer to the body (chassis) and Eq. 2 refer to the wheel.

Fig. 4. Kinematic transmission of the wheel suspension forces

In order to achieve better results from the quarter-vehicle model, the pro rata chassis
mass can be determined by breaking down the half chassis mass onto three mass points
mA,v (front axle), mA,h (rear axle) and mK (coupling mass).
From the conditions for the preservation of the chassis mass mA;ges, of the center of
mass SA and the mass moment of inertia θy = mA i2y, where iy is the radius of gyration
about y - axis
mA,y + mA,h + mK = mA,ges (3)

mA,v lv − mA,h lh = 0 (4)

mA,v lv2 + mA,h lh2 = mA i2y (5)

one obtains three equivalent masses

 Modeling and Analysis of a Vehicle Suspension 119

( )
i2y i2y i2y
mA,v = mA,ges , mA,h = mA,ges , mK = mA,ges 1 − (6)
lv l lh l l h lv

For the wheel based, proportional body mass mA of the quarter-vehicle model, mA = ½
mA;v (front wheel) respectively mA = ½ mA;h (rear wheel) is used.
Furthermore it is necessary to consider the kinematic transmission of the wheel
suspension forces as shown in Fig. 4. The kinematic transmission k results from the
vertical deflection zr of the wheel suspension as

( ) dz ż
k zs = r = r (7)
dzs ż s

will be used in the models in Matlab/Simulink environment.

3 Modelling of the Vehicle

Using the Matlab/Simulink environment, with a complex model for the rim-tire
assembly (13 inches rim and 175/65 R13 tire), and independent wheel/rigid axle suspen‐
sion model, Fig. 5 (right), and with direct application on a specific car (internal combus‐
tion engine—manual transmission gear box) there were studied the behavior of the
vehicle in a “double lane change maneuver”, Fig. 5 (left), in order to establish the func‐
tionality of the generated model.

Fig. 5. Simulink model for the study

The results are compared with the data generated by the CarSim environment, which
is a well know software dedicated to vehicle dynamics. Obviously, there were used the
same input data for calculations (tire, powertrain, weights, road etc.).
The calculus were divided in many iterations, with different values for the vertical
force Fz on the tire (1, 3, 5 and 7 kN), resulting the longitudinal and lateral forces and
corresponding aligning torque, Fig. 6.
120 L. Mihon and N. Lontiș

Fig. 6. Forces and torque generated in tire-road surface interaction

Figure 7 represent the comparison between the calculated forces through specific
and dedicated software for vehicle dynamics with the ones obtained from the models
builded and tested in the Matlab/Simulink environment.

Fig. 7. Compared longitudinal force (left) and lateral force (right) for Matlab/Simulink model vs
calculated ones

4 Conclusions

The similarity and good approximation of the results proves the model and method,
started from a theoretical approach and then simulated on specific environment. The
results was compared with calculated data, obtained with a specialized software and the
results are very favourable, proving the good approximations and initial values condi‐
tions for the simulation and experiment. The models for the tires and suspension compo‐
nents could be modified due to the simulation and the time and costs of simulated
experiments could be preserved and the testing conditions could be varied on demands.
 Modeling and Analysis of a Vehicle Suspension 121

References

1. Blundell, M., Harty, D.: The Multibody System Approach to Vehicle Dynamics. Elsevier/
Butterworth-Heinemann Publications, New York (2004)
2. Schramm, D., Hiller, M., Bardini, R.: Vehicle Dynamics. Modeling and Simulation. Springer,
Berlin (2014)
3. Rill, G.: Road Vehicle Dynamics. Fundamentals and Modeling. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2012)
4. Pacejka, H.B.: Tyre and Vehicle Dynamics, 2nd edn. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford (2006)
5. Svendenius, J.: Tire modeling and friction estimation. Ph. D. Thesis. http://
portal.research.lu.se/portal/en/publications/tire-modeling-and-frictionestimation(248871bd-
5d24-49fb-9c00-a37d6caf92af.html. Accessed 01 May 2018
6. Matlab/Simulink reference manuals, 2018a Release