Advanced Vehicle Dynamics
Advanced Vehicle Dynamics
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LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of this assignment, students will be able to achieve the module
following learning outcomes (LOs): LO numbers and text copied and pasted from the module
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LO 1: Demonstrate a systematic and ordered understanding of vehicle performance backed up with analytical
determination of performance
LO 2: Perform complex analyses on whole vehicle performance and critically assess one vehicle against another
LO 3: Critically examine current methods of vehicle performance evaluation
LO 4: Use numerical and analytical techniques to critically analyse different aspects of vehicle performance
LO 5: Make rational and informed decisions to select methods for improving vehicle performance over a wide
range of situations
LO 7: Undertake independent learning of ‘new vehicle dynamics related problems at an advanced level
I declare that the work submitted is my own and that the work I submit is fully in accordance with
the University regulations regarding assessments (www.brookes.ac.uk/uniregulations/current)
Marking grid and peer marking form are attached at the end of this assignment.
4. References ................................................................................................... 20
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Introduction
Understanding and analyzing how cars maneuver and behave is the main goal of
vehicle dynamics. To get maximum performance, stability, and handling, out of the
car, vehicle dynamics focuses on the study of forces, moments, and motions
operating on it. Vehicle dynamics analyzes parameters like steering, braking, and
acceleration to improve overall driving comfort, and safety of the passenger
mathematical models and physical concepts are used to create cars with
remarkable handling and comfort capabilities. In this report these models are
discussed.
bicycle model: The bicycle model is a simplified half-car model used for studying
maneuverability and handling of the vehicle along with the damped and
underdamped response. The aim is to study these responses.
Twin track model: The extended twin track model is the full car model, which is
used for lateral force calculation, understeer, and oversteer study aim is to study
these concepts through Adams model.
suspension SDOF, TDOF, FDOF: suspension models are very important in
studying vehicle ride and comfort as suspension absorbs and damps forces acting
on the vehicle, three models are discussed in the report. Each model has different
uses and limitations. These models can be used for suspension optimization by
simulating realistic vehicle behavior. The aim is to simulate and optimize SDOF,
TDOF, FDOF Adams model.
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Fig1. Model Representation (Balkwill, 2017)
Equations used:
Two differential equations stated below are implemented to simulate the
maneuvering of the vehicle (Balkwill,2017):
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So, it can be said that the torque produced by aFyf equals bFyr For the vehicle in
equilibrium. and for the front slip and rear slip angle, they are equal a/b = CR/CF.
aFyf + bFyr ------------- (4)
aCFαF = bCRαR ------------(5)
for a neutral steer car slip angle of the front and rear are equal (αF = αR) and
center of gravity of the car is at the center.
when the car is in understeer condition center of gravity is towards the front axle
and the slip angle of front is bigger than rear (αF > αR).
for oversteer condition the center of gravity is towards the rear axle of the car and
slip angle of rear is bigger than the front slip angle (αF < αR).
Weight 900 kg
Wheelbase 2600 mm
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Center of gravity front axle 900 mm
Fig4. Vehicle velocity with only forward force (author, 2023) Fig5. Vehicle velocity after drag force (author, 2023)
drag force, which is the result of the forward chassis velocity multiplied by a
constant to represent the resistive force, increases with the squared velocity value.
2. step steer input: To simulate steering motion, step steer input was given to the
front wheel revolute joint. As shown in the Fig7 steer input was given at 3 sec
considering the peak velocity is achieved at 2.2 sec and ended at 3.02sec.
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Fig7. drag force equation (author, 2023)
3.Lateral force and linear spline input: Lateral force is defined by F lat = C*α
(cornering stiffness * slip angle) therefore slip angle was defined first (α= arctan
Vx/Vy), if conditions were given as initial velocity is actually zero and if conditions
can provide 0.001 magnitude to simulate slip and then these values and cornering
stiffness was used to define lateral force as shown in fig8 further as shown in fig9.
nonlinear spline was introduced to simulate realistic behavior of the car.
Fig8. Lateral force (author, 2023) Fig9. Lateral force (author, 2023
Fig.10: Yaw rate underdamped response without nonlinear spline. (author, 2023)
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Fig.11: Yaw rate underdamped response with nonlinear spline. (author, 2023)
Comparing fig10 and fig11 graphs we can see the change in behavior of
understeering car. vehicle with the spline has more realistic output and can be
considered correct.
it can be seen in the figure 12 that slip angle of the rear wheel is smaller than the
slip angle of the front wheel and we know that center of gravity is in the front of the
car therefore this proves that the car is in understeer condition.
Fig.13: Lateral force on the front and rear tire. (author, 2023)
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In Figure 13 we can see that the force generated on the rear wheel is less than the
force generated on the front wheel which proves that the car is underdamped.
Limitation:
Bicycle models are helpful for understanding the cornering behavior of the vehicle,
but because of the simplified approach and limited degree of freedom it is unable
to analyze certain parameters.
1. Ackermann and Anti-ackerman geometry behavior
2. Lateral load transfer
3. Individual slip angle for each wheel
All these parameters are very important to understand the whole vehicle’s behavior
hence the model was further extended to twin track model.
Fig 36. Yaw rate response understeer overdamped and critically damped.
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2. extension twin track bicycle model (four wheel)
Weight 300 kg
Wheelbase 1550 mm
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2.1 Lateral force study
Fig.15: front right and front left lateral force. (author, 2023)
From figure 15. Above we can see that after a car has entered the corner, due to
centrifugal force acting on the weight has been shifted towards the outer wheel
and we can see the difference in lateral force generated on front the right and front
left tire.
Fig.16: rear right and rear left lateral force. (author, 2023)
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The same trend can be seen in the rear wheel of car in fig16, but we can see that
rate of weight transfer is less.
The car described above is understeering car which has bigger slip angle in the
front, this factor is contributing to the front wheel load transfer rate as front right
wheel is affected the most while cornering due centrifugal force generated at the
center of gravity.
2.2 Change in steering angle:
Steering angle is a very influential factor in the car's performance when steering
angle changes lateral force distribution and wheel torque also changes with it
which ultimately affects the yaw rate of the car.
Simulating different angles could help in determining optimum steering geometry
and handling to show how steering angle affects car performance. The inner angle
was varied with increment of 5 degrees and outer angle and speed of the car was
kept constant.
Iteration Inner angle Outer angle
1 5 10
2 10 10
3 15 10
As shown in the fig17 for medium speed cornering change in angle helps in gaining
more angular velocity than before and the steering.
2.3 Oversteer and understeer:
Oversteer and understeer are very important parameter as it affects the
performance and handling the car.
oversteer condition – in this case rear tire lose traction before front tire in this
condition vehicle tends to take sharper turns in terms of slip angle αFront < αRear.
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understeer condition – in this case front tire lose their traction before rear tire and
hamper maneuverability and vehicle tends to take wide turns in terms of slip angle
αFront > αRear.
Neutral steering – in this case lateral forces are balanced car takes accurate turns
as per the input in terms of slip angle αFront = αRear.
For this twin track model was designed with a 50/50 weight distribution which is
the ideal condition for a neutral steer, it was then varied by changing the speed of
the car gradually. two conditions were analyzed which are discussed below.
For the first iteration speed was decreased gradually until the slip angles behavior
completely changed and we could see the car taking a small turning radius. in
fig18. you can see that the slip angle of the rear is bigger than the slip angle of slip
angle of the front tire which proves that the car is in oversteer condition
For the second iteration speed was increased until the slip angle behavior changed
and car was seen taking wider turns than before. in fig19. you can see that the slip
angle of front tire is bigger than the slip angle of the rear tire which proves that the
car is in understeer condition
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3. Suspension and ride optimization
Introduction:
Overall vehicle handling ride and comfort of the passengers is very much
dependent on roll pitch and yaw of the car. To optimize this suspension plays a
crucial role in the vehicle design all the harness noise and vibrations generated
through car are damped using the suspension. It helps in achieving better tire and
road contact which ultimately helps in achieving more lateral force and
performance. The role of suspension may differ with need. For example, OEM cars
are more focused towards the safety and comfort of the passenger and race cars
are more focused towards the lateral force and effective contact patch of the tire
in cornering. Optimization of the suspension is dependent on parameters like
damping coefficient, tire model cornering stiffness and spring stiffness theses
parameters are varied to optimize suspension.
3.1 SDOF model analysis:
This is a simplified suspension model that considers the whole car as a single
lumped mass. similarly, 4 springs as a single spring and four dampers as a single
damper in this model body is connected to a spring and the spring is connected to
the road and only vertical displacement is allowed.
Fig20: FBD SDOF (author, 2023) Fig. 21 Adams model SDOF (author, 2023)
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Fig. 21 Road input spline implemented for Suspension simulation. (author, 2023)
To find optimum spring force, the suspension is tuned for damping. For this, design
variables are used along with the spline input. a range of variables for spring
stiffness and damping are simulated. The results are shown below.
Inputs:
Input Amplitude 25 mm
Table 4 (author, 2023)
The spring force is taken into consideration while optimizing the SODF model for
damping. The standard value for the damping range is 2.5, and it ranges from 1 to
10. The specified design variable is run through five iterations. Additionally, the
spring force is plotted against the graph above. It reaches its maximum damping
at about 3.5 Ns/mm which corresponds to 0.39 damping ratio.
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Fig22. Spring force Vs spring coefficient
By reducing the RMS of the contact patch vertical force variation, the above-
mentioned graphs demonstrate that tires in contact with the road will perform better
with softer springs. It can be observed in fig 22,23 and 24.
Fig 24 shows that optimization of the suspension for better ride comfort and mode
has decreased, the excitation gain gradually which will result in comfortable ride.
analytical natural frequency for the system is 3.14 Hz which is equal the value
obtained from the simulation.
Limitation:
in SDOF body is considered as a single lumped mass and does not consider the
sprung and unsprung mass as different entity which is the biggest limitation of the
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SDOF. To analyze the model further and get accurate results TDOF (two degree
of freedom) model should be used
Fig25: FBD TDOF (author, 2023) Fig. 26 Adams model TDOF (author, 2023)
The degrees of freedom model are made with 3 blocks: sprung, unsprung, and
input tire all three are connected to each other. The input tire block is connected
to the unsprung mass (wheel assembly) with spring without the damper and the
unsprung mass is connected to the sprung mass (chassis) with spring and damper.
road spline input is given to the input tire to simulate road profile.
INPUT TABEL
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Fig 27. Spring force Vs damping
Fig.28- Baseline vs Optimized suspension response graph sprung and unsprung mass
After the optimization bode plots were plotted for unsprung and sprung mass
frequency to see the optimized results. for 0.1 and 0.3 damping coefficients it can
be seen in fig28 that the optimized sprung and unsprung mass have lower peaks
than before, which basically means that they have lower acceleration and higher
frequency
in the fig 28 we can see that we have different optimization graph for sprung and
unsprung mass which satisfies the goal of TODF.
Limitation:
● model is only focused on vertical motion and neglects lateral roll and yaw
dynamics.
● TODF is only focused on performance.
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● Both unsprung and sprung masses are considered as rigid bodies which is
not realistic.
Hence the model was further developed to 4 degrees of freedom.
The model was optimized using the same conditions as two degrees of freedom.
Firstly, optimum damping coefficient was found and using the design variable. It
was optimized further to reduce the acceleration of the body which helped in
improving ride comfort of the car.
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introduction of time lag clarifies many things for us, such as the vibrations
introduced because of the time lag, when they resonate, and numerous other
examples.
The same spline input as single degree of freedom and two degree of freedom
was given as input to four degrees of freedom to analyze pitching moment in fig31
pitching moment of chassis can be seen.
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For second iteration to make simulation more realistic time lag was given for the
rear tire of 0.1 sec and graph was plotted it was observed that we will get different
for results front and rear with delay of 0.1 sec it can be seen in the fig 33
For the third iteration both the front and rear axle were synced to observe phase
lag it can be seen in the image – that we have different phase output we can use
these outputs to design optimum suspension it can be seen in the fig 34.
For the last fourth iteration phase suspension was desynced and time lag between
front and rear was given graph was plotted for this simulation which can be
observed in the fig 35.
Limitation:
● Four degree of freedom model is simplified model which considers front
suspension as a single entity and rear suspension as one entity which is not
ideal for independent study of independent single wheel.
● This model does not consider the conditions of the roll.
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4. References
Bereteu, L. and Perescu, A. (2012) ‘Quarter Car Suspension System With One Degree Of
Freedom Simulated Using Simulink’, Annals of West University of Timisoara - Physics,
56(1), pp. 88–93. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1515/awutp-2015-0013.
Milliken, W.F. and Milliken, D.L. (1995) Race car vehicle dynamics. Warrendale, Pa,
U.S.A.: Sae International.
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