Search Results

For electric vehicles, road noise, together with wind noise, is the most important contributor for vehicle interior noise. Road noise is very dependent on the NVH behavior of axle system including wheels and tires. Axle system is part of vehicle platform which should be compatible with different body variants. Therefore, il is important to characterize the NVH performance of an axle system independently of car body structure, so that the design the axle can be optimized at the early stage according to the global requirements of all the related vehicles. The best way to characterize the NVH performance of an axle system is to measure the blocked forces on an appropriate test rig. However, the measurement of blocked forces from an axle system requires very stiff boundary conditions which is difficult to achieve in practice. For axles with rigid mountings, it is nearly impossible to measure the blocked forces on test rig.

A road test on semi-trailers is carried out, and accelerations of some characteristic points on the braking system,axles,and truck body is measured,also brake pressure and noise around the support frame is acquired.The measured data was analyzed to determine the causes of the brake noise, and the mechanism of the noise of the drum brake of semi-trailers during low-speed braking was investigated. The following conclusions are obtained: (1) Brake noise of the drum brake of the semi-trailer at low-frequency is generated from vibrations of the brake shoes, axle, and body, and the vibration frequency is close to 2nd natural frequency of the axle. (2) Brake noise is generated from stick-slip motion between the brake shoes and the brake drum, where the relative motion between the brake drum and the brake shoes is changed alternately with sliding and sticking, resulting in sudden changes in acceleration and shock vibration.

Intelligent vehicle-to-everything connectivity is an important development trend in the automotive industry. Among various active safety systems, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) has garnered widespread attention due to its outstanding performance in reducing traffic accidents. AEB effectively avoids or mitigates vehicle collisions through automatic braking, making it a crucial technology in autonomous driving. However, the majority of current AEB safety models exhibit limitations in braking modes and fail to fully consider the overall vehicle stability during braking. To address these issues, this paper proposes an improved AEB control system based on a risk factor (AERF). The upper-level controller introduces the risk factor (RF) and proposes a multi-stage warning/braking control strategy based on preceding vehicle dynamic characteristics, while also calculating the desired acceleration.

An experiment is carried out to measure creep groan of a drum brake located in a trailer axle of a truck. The noise nearby the drum brake and accelerations on brake shoes, axle and trailer frame are collected to analyze the occurring conditions and characteristics of the creep groan. A multi-body dynamics model with 1/4 trailer chassis structures is established for analyzing brake component vibrations that generates the creep groan. In the model, the contact force between brake cam and brake shoes, the contact friction characteristics between brake linings and inner circular surface of brake drum, and the properties of chassis structure are included. Dynamic responses of brake shoes, axle and trailer frame during the braking process are estimated using the established model and the responses are compared with the measured results, which validate the model.

As the automotive industry accelerates its virtual engineering capabilities, there is a growing requirement for increased accuracy across a broad range of vehicle simulations. Regarding control system development, utilizing vehicle simulations to conduct ‘pre-tuning’ activities can significantly reduce time and costs. However, achieving an accurate prediction of, e.g., stopping distance, requires accurate tire modeling. The Magic Formula tire model is often used to effectively model the tire response within vehicle dynamics simulations. However, such models often: i) represent the tire driving on sandpaper; and ii) do not accurately capture the transient response over a wide slip range. In this paper, a novel methodology is developed using the MF-Tyre/MF-Swift tire model to enhance the accuracy of ABS braking simulations.

An advanced multi-layer material model has been developed to simulate the complex behavior in case-carburized gears where hardness dependent strength and elastic-plastic behavior is characterized. Also, an advanced fatigue model has been calibrated to material fatigue tests over a wide range of conditions and implemented in FEMFAT software for root bending fatigue life prediction in differential gears. An FEA model of a differential is setup to simulate the rolling contact and transient stresses occurring within the differential gears. Gear root bending fatigue life is predicted using the calculated stresses and the FEMFAT fatigue model. A specialized rig test is set up and used to measure the fatigue life of the differential over a range of load conditions. Root bending fatigue life predictions are shown to correlate very well with the measured fatigue life in the rig test.

To improve the braking energy recovery rate of pure electric garbage removal vehicles and ensure the braking effect of garbage removal vehicles, a strategy using particle swarm algorithm to optimize the regenerative braking fuzzy control of garbage removal vehicles is proposed. A multi-section front and rear wheel braking force distribution curve is designed considering the braking effect and braking energy recovery. A hierarchical regenerative braking fuzzy control strategy is established based on the braking force and braking intensity required by the vehicle. The first layer is based on the braking force required by the vehicle, based on the front and rear axle braking force distribution plan, and uses fuzzy controllers.

The thermal behavior of the electric axle is an essential indicator which requires certain attention during the development process. Due to the complexity of heat generation mechanism and heat transfer boundary conditions, it is difficult to accurately predict the axle’s temperature, especially in real driving conditions. In this paper, a comprehensive 1D model is developed to simulate its heat transfer process effectively and accurately. The heat transfer model is developed based on the thermal network method, and the electric axle is divided into thermal mass according to its heat transfer characteristics. The heat generation model, which accounts for meshing loss, bearing loss, churning loss, and windage loss, exchanges heat flux and oil temperature information with the heat transfer model to take into account the effect of lubricating oil temperature on power loss.

Based on the particularity of the racing field of the Baja SAE China, the Baja Racing Team of our university has adopted rzeppa universal joint for vehicle design and field competition in the semi-axle parts of the race car in previous years. In view of the complex conditions of the Baja Competition, such as gravity test, climb test, handling test, endurance test, etc., it is necessary to optimize and develop a more convenient maintenance model. Installation and use of better performance, more suitable for off-road conditions of the shaft. In this paper, based on the development dynamics of automobile axles and the transverse comparison of various axles, a kind of telescopic cross-shaft universal joint axles is designed by using CATIA software to model and simulate kinematics and dynamics by using ANSYS software. At the same time, the stress and strain of the model are continuously optimized according to the change of axle wheel Angle and the torque matching of Baja Racing.

This paper presents the characteristics of more than 260 trim levels for over 50 production electric vehicle (EV) models on the market since 2014. Data analysis shows a clear trend of all-wheel-drive (AWD) powertrains being increasingly offered on the market from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The latest data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that AWD EVs have seen a nearly 4 times increase in production from 21 models in 2020 to 79 models in 2023. Meanwhile single axle front-wheel-drive (FWD) and rear-wheel-drive (RWD) drivetrains have seen small to moderate increases over the same period, going from 9 to 11 models and from 5 to 12 models, respectively. Further looking into AWD architectures demonstrates dual electric machine (EM) powertrains using different EM types on each axle remain a small portion of the dual-motor AWD category.

With the proliferation of electric vehicles in the market, it has become important for Automotive OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to focus on delivering a higher driving range while also maximizing performance. One approach OEMs are actively considering in meeting this goal is to include a secondary drive axle disconnect into the powertrain which has the potential to improve the overall driving range by about 6-8.3% [4]. This paper outlines the need for a novel controls architecture to make the Powertrain controls software modular and to reduce the development time needed to provide robust powertrain control software. To do this, the electrified powertrain torque controls at STELLANTIS NV takes a decentralized controls architecture approach, by separating the axle disconnect controls subsystem (ADCS) from the primary path of torque controls. The ADCS takes in information such as the desired axle state and controls the axle disconnect actuators to achieve that state.

This paper proposes a thorough investigation of steady-state cornering equilibria for cars. Besides equilibria corresponding to normal driving behaviour - herein denoted as stable-normal turn, drifting is attracting increasing attention. When discussing drifting, it is typically assumed that yaw rate and steering angle have opposite signs, i.e. the driver is countersteering, and the rear axle is saturated. Interestingly, another unstable equilibrium is possible, herein referred to as unstable-normal turn. In this work, an attempt to give a comprehensive definition of drift is made. An inverse model is proposed to compute the driver inputs needed to perform a steady-state turn for a given radius and sideslip angle. The mathematical meaning of all equilibria is explored by linearizing the system and analyzing eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the resulting state matrices.

The aim of this study is to determine if the degradation of one or more dampers of a passenger car with ABS leads to a statistically significant reduction of vehicle safety. Therefore, a compact and a mid-size car are tested on a flat test track and on an uneven test track by straight braking maneuvers at different levels of damper degradation. Both test tracks are scanned using a 3D laser scanner. For every level of damper degradation (on each test track) a new set of tires is used, a preconditioning routine is applied and 30 successful measurements are conducted to allow using statistical methods to evaluate the results. The results show that any level of damper degradation with each type of car and test track leads to a significant increase in braking distance and, therefore, to a significant reduction of vehicle safety. The braking distance extension varies heavily with the level of damper degradation and the road properties.

Disc brakes are the most popular type of brakes used in the two-wheeler segment and are easily available in the market. The improper brakes result in serious problems in vehicles. The main idea of this paper is to design a braking system for a two-wheeler application. The paper discusses the design, analysis, and simulation of disc brakes. The disc is first selected using the standard brake disc calculation. To verify the selection of disk, torque at wheel and torque at the disc are compared. Thermomechanical (Transient) analysis is done on ANSYS 2021 to check for the effect of braking force applied by the disc on the rotor disc. The mathematical model of the ABS model is done on Scilab Xcos. The main aim of studying the system using a mathematical model is to verify if the selected disc brakes are safe enough to be installed on a two-wheeler. The mathematical model also has stopping distance and the stopping time as the output which validates the selection of the disc.

A chassis is the main skeleton of a go-kart containing distinct components such as the engine, brakes, fuel tank, rear axle, etc. It supports the entire weight and load of the components, so it must be steady enough to withstand shock, twisting, vibration, and other stress. This paper reviews the study carried out on the chassis, highlighting the area where the Nodes, Primary and Secondary members, Horizontal and Vertical members, and Chassis stiffness support the jacking effect with the constraints of maximum Torsional stress, deflection, and critical regions under loading conditions. AISI 4130 is used as the chassis material. When dealing with the software, SolidWorks 2023 and Fusion 360 are used for designing the chassis whereas ANSYS 2022 is used for the analysis of the designed chassis. In order to reduce weight, improve material consumption, and provide an appropriate cross-section, a simulation technique was used in design optimization.

Load-carrying transportation has recently increased due to cargo and online home shopping. As a result, there is a growing demand for vehicles that can pass through narrow streets and carry loads for short distances. Electric vehicles are vital in the automotive industry due to their zero emissions and further promotion through new regulations. This study is focused on determining the spring coefficients of helical springs for a micro-truck vehicle, which will be used for cargo transportation and has a leaf spring with a specific spring coefficient on the rear axle and an independent double wishbone suspension system on the front axle. In addition to being vehicles with low weight values, micro-trucks have the axle capacity required for urban transportation due to their low track width and dimensions. Correctly determining the leaf spring is essential as it will directly affect the loads on the suspension system, wheel life, energy consumption, and comfort level.

When a specialty tractor is operated by mounting the front loader or backhoes, the loads are distributed proportionately to the front and rear axles. The maximum load and fatigue life were identified as the main parameters in predicting fatigue failure. This paper mainly focuses on predicting front axle loads and fatigue life in front loader applications. To design a new front axle for the loader application, an existing front axle assembly that was designed for orchard, sprayer, and small farm application is selected for study and to extend it for front loader application with minimal design modifications. The major challenge is to estimate the dynamic loads coming to the front axle due to the front loader application and validate it for a different set of load cases as per the design verification plan. Hence a methodology was framed to estimate the actual loads using MBD, validate with field measurements, and verify the new front axle design using those loads in FEA.

The cost of fuels used for automobile are rising in India on account of high global crude oil prices. The fuel cost constitutes major portion of total cost of operation for Heavy commercial vehicles. Hence, the trend is to carry the goods transport through higher payload capacity rigid/straight trucks that offer lower transportation cost per unit of goods transported. This is driving the design of multi-axle heavy trucks that have lift axles. In addition, improved network of highways and road infrastructure is leading to increase in average operating speed of heavy commercial vehicles. It has made increased focus on occupant as well as road safety while designing the heavy trucks. Hence, the analysis of lift axle suspension from the point of view of vehicle handling and stability is essential. There are two basic kinds of lift axle designs used in heavy commercial vehicles: self-steered lift axle having single tire on each side and non-steered lift axle with dual tires on each side.

Increased popularity on SUV category in the market has led to high focus on performance attributes of SUVs. Considering high weight & CoG achieving target handling performance is always a challenge. Static Wheel Alignment parameters, especially Camber have shown significant contribution in Handling attributes of vehicle. This paper presents an experimental study on change in wheel camber under the influence of different vehicle loading conditions. In SUVs, generally wheel is subjected to large deflection from its high static loads which makes it quite difficult to maintain an ideal camber angle. Hence, it is important to analyze the camber angle variations under actual loading conditions. An in-house fixture is developed to emulate the actual vehicle loading conditions at rear wheel end. The multi-link rigid axle suspension with watt’s link assembly is mounted on the chassis-frame which is rigidly fixed to ground, and loads are achieved through hydraulic actuators at Wheels.

Heavy Commercial Road Vehicles (HCRVs) may be more susceptible to rollover incidents due to their higher centre of gravity position than passenger vehicles, and rollover is one of the significant causes of HCRV accidents. Therefore, variation in vehicle roll behaviour becomes crucial to the safety of an HCRV. Toe misalignment is a commonly observed phenomenon in HCRVs, and studying its impact on roll behaviour is important. In this study, the impact of the symmetric toe and thrust misalignment on the roll behaviour of an HCRV is analysed using IPG TruckMaker®, a vehicle dynamics simulation software. A ramp steer manoeuvre was used for the simulations, and the toe misalignment on a wheel was chosen from the range [-0.21°, 0.21°]. Variation in roll behaviour was quantified using the steering wheel angle at which one-wheel lift-off (OWL) occurred (SWAL).