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This research was to model a 6×4 tractor-trailer rig using TruckSim and simulate severe braking maneuvers with hardware in the loop and software in the loop simulations. For the hardware in the loop simulation (HIL), the tractor model was integrated with a 4s4m anti-lock braking system (ABS) and straight line braking tests were conducted. In developing the model, over 100 vehicle parameters were acquired from a real production tractor and entered into TruckSim. For the HIL simulation, the hardware consisted of a 4s4m ABS braking system with six brake chambers, four modulators, a treadle and an electronic control unit (ECU). A dSPACE simulator was used as the “interface” between the TruckSim computer model and the hardware.

This paper proposes a new integrated chassis control (ICC) using a predictive model-based control (MPC) for optimal allocation of sub-chassis control systems where a predictive model has 6 Degree of Freedom (DoF) for rigid body dynamics. The 6 DoF predictive vehicle model consists of longitudinal, lateral, vertical, roll, pitch, and yaw motions while previous MPC research uses a 3 DoF maximally predictive model such as longitudinal, lateral and yaw motions. The sub-chassis control systems in this paper include four wheel individual braking torque control, four wheel individual driving torque control and four corner active suspension control. Intermediate control inputs for sub-chassis control systems are simplified as wheel slip ratio changes for driving and braking controls and vertical suspension force changes for an active suspension control.

Numerical durability analysis is the only approach that can be used to assess the durability of vehicles in early stages of development. In these stages, where there are no physical prototypes available, the road wheel forces (or spindle forces) for durability testing on Belgian PG (Proving Ground) must be predicted by VPG (Virtual Proving Ground) or derived from the measured forces of predecessor vehicles. In addition, the tuning parts and geometry are not fixed at these stages. This results in the variation of spindle forces during the development stages. Therefore, it is not reasonable to choose the forces predicted at a specific tuning condition as standard forces. It is more reasonable to determine the standard forces stochastically using the DB of the measured forces of predecessor vehicles. The spindle forces measured or predicted on Belgian PG are typically stationary random.

As the original engine sound is usually not enough to satisfy the driver’s desire for a sporty and fascinating sound, Active Noise Control (ANC) and Active Sound Design (ASD) have been great technologies in automobiles for a long time. However, these technologies which enhance the sound of vehicles using loud speakers or electromagnetic actuators etc. lead to the increase of cost and weight due to the use of external amplifiers or actuators. This paper presents a new technology for generating a target sound by the active control of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) of a mass-production steering system. The existing steering hardware or motor is not changed, but only additional software is added. Firstly, an algorithm of this technology, called Active Sound Generation (ASG), is introduced which is compiled and included in the ECU target code. Then the high frequency noise issue and its countermeasures are presented.

Owing to the enhanced performance of engines these days, more heat should be dissipated in the braking system. Success of doing this properly causes more heat to the disc in the brake system which results in the deformation or scratches on the surface of it and a reduction in the appearance of the product. A study for detailed factors to aggravate this was done as a solution to prevent these from happening. In this paper, we present our work based on experiments to study MPU (Metal Pick Up) of the pad and the scoring(scratching) of the disc. MPU of which the main component is “Fe”, is formed through the process of fusing the separated materials from the disc by friction with the pad, and by local heat generation to the pad. [1,2,3,4,5] The occurrence of MPU and the possibility of the disc scoring resulting from this were studied by noting “Fe” which was transferred to the surface of the pad to different extent and degree of segregation according to the roughness of the disc.

An investigation has been performed to study the response of the front bumper beam of automobiles subjected to an external impact load. In the investigation, an aluminum shell structure is modeled as a beam, and the energy absorber of polyurethane is also modeled as statically equivalent springs attached to the beam. Castigliano's second theorem and principles of energy and momentum are then used to calculate the reaction forces and maximum deflection. Stress distribution is then calculated using the beam theory. The primary concern of the investigation is to present a procedure of how to design optimally the cross-sectional shape of the front bumper of automobiles.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and reduce the suspension rattle noise. First, the characteristics of the rattle noise are analyzed experimentally in the time and frequency domain. It was found that the rattle noise and vibration at shock absorber mounting point are strongly correlated. Second, the sensitivity analysis of design parameters is performed using a half car model in ADAMS. The result of the simulation model is verified by comparison with test. Finally, the influence of design parameters for the rattle noise is investigated. The study shows that the shock absorber mounting bushing is the most sensitive parameter to affect the suspension rattle noise. This paper shows how the suspension rattle noise can be improved.

The verification of the durability for vehicle body and chassis components is a basic requirement for the vehicle development process. For this, automotive company performs durability test on the proving ground or predict the durability using CAE technology. The representative proving ground test that verifies the durability of vehicle body and chassis components are belgian(hereinafter B/G) and cross-country(hereinafter X/C) test road. The B/G test road verifies the durability of body and chassis components for periodic road load that the vehicle undergoes while travelling on a rough road with regular speed. The X/C test road is composed of squat, dive, bumping and bottoming test modes and this test verifies the durability under aperiodic road load. Because of the relatively long test load of X/C, the road load signal of X/C is too long and enormous to apply it to durability analysis.

Elastokinematic properties of the suspension system are one of major factors that improve ride and handling performances. Their properties have been quasi-statically determined using the in-door measurement device, such as the SPMD (Suspension Parameter Measurement Device). The elastokinematic properties in driving conditions, called dynamic compliance characteristics, are defined as the superposition of quasi-static properties, called static compliance characteristics. However, this superposition method has difficulties in predicting the suspension non-linearities under high lateral acceleration and transient behaviors. In this paper, dynamic compliance characteristics are directly determined through on-board measurements and transformation matrix. Their applications in validating ADAMS full vehicle model are discussed. Some experimental and simulation results about their unique properties and relationships with SPMD are presented.

A throttle/brake control law for the intelligent cruise control (ICC) system has been proposed in this paper. The ICC system consists of a vehicle detection sensor, a controller and throttle/brake actuators. For the control of a throttle/brake system, we introduced a solenoid-valve-controlled electronic vacuum booster (EVB) and a step-motor-controlled throttle actuator. Nonlinear computer model for the electronic vacuum booster has been developed and the simulations were performed using a complete nonlinear vehicle model. The proposed control law in this paper consists of an algorithm that generates the desired acceleration/deceleration profile in an ICC situation, a throttle/brake switching logic and a throttle and brake control algorithm based on vehicle dynamics. The control performance has been investigated through computer simulations and experiments.

Conventional steering system has a mechanical connection between the driver and the front tires of the vehicle, but in steer-by-wire system, there is no such a connection. Instead, actuators, positioned in the vehicle's front corners receive input from the control module and turn the front wheels accordingly. In steer-by-wire system, steering wheel is an important part that not only transfers driver's steering input to the controller but also provides a road feedback feeling to the driver's hand. Thus the reactive torque actuator, providing road feedback, plays an important role in steer-by-wire system. In conventional steer-by-wire-system, a motor was used as a reactive torque actuator. But using motor has some disadvantages such as an oscillatory feeling, and improper and potentially dangerous acceleration of the steering wheel by the motor when driver's hands are released from steering wheel abruptly.

A determination of the vehicle states and tire forces is critical to the stability of vehicle dynamic behavior and to designing automotive control systems. Researchers have studied estimation methods for the vehicle state vectors and tire forces. However, the accuracy of the estimation methods is closely related to the employed model. In this paper, tire lag dynamics is introduced in the model. Also application of estimation methods in order to improve the model accuracy is presented. The model is developed by using the global searching algorithm, a Genetic Algorithm, so that the model can be used in the nonlinear range. The extended Kalman filter and sliding mode observer theory are applied to estimate the vehicle state vectors and tire forces. The obtained results are compared with measurements and the outputs from the ADAMS full vehicle model. [15]

In this paper, four different levels of finite element models of a full vehicle were developed for ride comfort and brake judder dynamics analysis. The differences between the models are how elasticity of various vehicle components is modeled. The dynamic analysis was performed considering nonlinear effects for the different levels of models. The nonlinear effects were characterized by frequency and amplitude dependent stiffness and damping values of hydraulic engine mounting, suspension lower control arm bushing, tire, shock absorber, and suspension friction. At each modeling level, simulation results were compared to those of test measurements. The differences of the analysis results of these models and the effect of nonlinear characteristics were investigated. The developed models were applied to ride comfort and brake judder dynamics analysis.

This paper presents the integrated chassis control(ICC) of four-wheel drive(4WD), electronic stability control(ESC), electronic control suspension(ECS), and active roll stabilizer(ARS) for limit handling. The ICC consists of three layers: 1) a supervisor determines target vehicle states; 2) upper level controller calculates generalized forces; 3) lower level controller, which is contributed in this paper, optimally allocates the generalized force to chassis modules. The lower level controller consists of two integrated parts, 1) longitudinal force control part (4WD/ESC) and 2) vertical force control part (ECS/ARS). The principal concept of both algorithms is optimally utilizing the capability of the each tire by monitoring tire saturation, with tire combined slip. By monitoring tire saturation, 4WD/ESC integrated system minimizes the sum of the tire saturation, and ECS/ARS integrated system minimizes the variance of the tire saturation.

Brake grinding noise is caused by the friction of the disc and pads. The friction generates vibration and it transmits to the body via the chassis system. We called it structure-borne noise. To improve the noise in the vehicle development, the aspects of chassis or body's countermeasure occurs many problems, cost and time. In this reason many brake companies try to make solution with brake system, like brake pad materials or disc surface condition. However the countermeasures of excitation systems also have a lot of risk. It could be occurred side-effects of braking performance, and need to re-verify brake noise like Creep-groan, Groan, Squeal, Judder and so on. For this reason, it is essential to make a robust chassis system in the initial development stage of the vehicle for the most desirable grinding noise-resistant vehicle. This paper is about rear brake grind noise path analysis and countermeasure of chassis system. There are two steps to analysis.

A Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) simulation is presented here wherein control algorithms for the Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) and Roll Stability Control (RSC) system were developed in Simulink. Vehicle dynamics models of a 6×4 cab-over tractor and two trailer combinations were developed in TruckSim and were used for control system design. Model validation was performed by doing various dynamic maneuvers like J-Turn, double lane change, decreasing radius curve, high dynamic steer input and constant radius test with increasing speed and comparing the vehicle responses obtained from TruckSim against field test data. A commercial ESC ECU contains two modules: Roll Stability Control (RSC) and Yaw Stability Control (YSC). In this research, only the RSC has been modeled. The ABS system was developed based on the results obtained from a HIL setup that was developed as a part of this research.

Ride quality of medium truck became a very important factor in the suspension design, due to the demand of more comfortable ride of passengers. This study describes how to determine and evaluate design parameters related to the chassis suspension system with time and frequency analysis. The spring stiffness and damping force of the chassis suspension system were obtained by observing the vertical acceleration PSD. The simulation was carried out on various road profiles, which was suggested by ISO. The pitching motion of the medium size truck was observed to improve the ride quality. A computer simulated truck model was constructed using DADS, a commercial dynamic analysis software, in order to simulate the truck motions. From the result of the sensitivity analysis of suspension parameters, it was concluded that the spring and the shock absorbers affect the pitching of the vehicle. In order to validate the computer simulated truck model, a physical prototype was constructed and tested.

Although tire forces are important as factors governing the behavior of a vehicle, current chassis control systems have used tire forces indirectly estimated. Hence, this research developed Intelligent Tire System (i-Tire) that can measure tire forces directly. This system used a deform gage and a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor, which are capable of passive radio communication. The performance of this developed system was tested with a tire test system (MTS Flat Trac) and a vehicle test.

An innovative design process is proposed to be applicable in the early conceptual design phase as a means of front loading design. The objective of the study is to minimize trial and errors in the detailed design phase and to shorten the overall design period. The process includes design optimization which is based on efficient modeling techniques. An integrated CAD/CAE modeling method and a simplified quality FE model are key factors in the course of effectuation. The conceptual modeling takes into account the adaptability of computer-generated models with the use of CAD/CAE integrated design environment. To achieve maximum efficiency in the repeated computations in optimization, an FE modeling approach is introduced in terms of simplicity and quality. The proposed FE modeling employs beam and spring elements to construct vehicle body models, which is targeted to produce an instant analysis result with a robust conceptual design at the incipient phase of development.

This paper proposes a torque tracking algorithm via steer by wire to achieve the target steering feel and proposed a modified friction model to obtain return-ability. A three dimensional reference steering wheel torque map is designed using the measurement data of the steering characteristics of the target vehicle at a transition test and a weave test. In order to track the reference steering wheel torque, a sliding mode control is used in the tracking algorithm. In addition, to achieve return-ability, the modified friction model for steer by wire is used instead of the friction model defined in the reference steering wheel torque map. The modified friction model is composed of various models according to the angular velocity. The angular velocity and the angular acceleration used in the control algorithm are estimated using a kalman filter.