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The characteristics, functionality, limitations, and applications of mid-level driving simulators are reviewed and discussed. For this paper a mid-level simulator is defined as one which has a large roadway scene display typically comprising animated computer graphics, it may have a motion system or be fixed base, it should have a dedicated cab with a steering feel system and interactive controls and displays, it has a parametrically configurable vehicle dynamics model, data acquisition is provided for, and the simulator is intended to be used for driver behavior research and vehicle or highway research and development studies. Possible simulator sickness issues are discussed, and categories of mid-level driving simulator applications are noted. Approximately 20 different contemporary driving simulators are included in the survey.

Moir� method is useful to measure the shape and the whole-field distributions of displacement and strain of structures. There are many kinds of moir� methods such as geometric moir� method, sampling moir� method, Fourier transform moir� method, moir� interferometry, shadow moir� method and moir� topography. Grating method analyzing directly deformation of a grating without any moir� fringe pattern is considered as an extended technique of moire method. Phase analysis of the moire fringe patterns and the grating patterns provides accurate measurements of shapes or displacement and strain distributions. Some applications of these moir� methods and grating methods to dynamic shape and strain distribution measurements of a rotating tire, sub-millimeter displacement measurements from long distance for landslide prediction, real-time shape measurements with micro-meter order accuracy, etc. are shown. Presenter Yoshiharu Morimoto, Moire Institute Inc.

Virtual testing is a method that simulates lab testing using multi-body dynamic analysis software. The main advantages of this approach include that the design can be evaluated before a prototype is available and virtual testing results can be easily validated by subsequent physical testing. The disadvantage is that accurate specimen models are sometimes hard to obtain since nonlinear components such as tires, bushings, dampers, and engine mounts are hard to model. Therefore, virtual testing accuracy varies significantly. The typical virtual rigs include tire and spindle coupled test rigs for full vehicle tests and multi-axis shaker tables for component tests. Hybrid simulation combines physical and virtual components, inputs and constraints to create a composite simulation system. Hybrid simulation enables the hard to model components to be tested in the lab.

Hybrid vehicle simulation methods combine physical test articles (vehicles, suspensions, etc.) with complementary virtual vehicle components and virtual road and driver inputs to simulate the actual vehicle operating environment. Using appropriate components, hybrid simulation offers the possibility to develop more accurate physical tests earlier, and at lower cost, than possible with conventional test methods. MTS Systems has developed Hybrid System Response Convergence (HSRC), a hybrid simulation method that can utilize existing durability test systems and detailed non-real-time virtual component models to create an accurate full-vehicle simulation test without requiring road load data acquisition. MTS Systems and Audi AG have recently completed a joint evaluation project for the HSRC hybrid simulation method using an MTS 329 road simulator at the Audi facility in Ingolstadt, Germany.

The value of crash simulation has long been recognized by carmakers as an essential tool for vehicle development and certification programs. Driven by the need to minimize time-to-market for new models, cost reduction, and by consumer demand for safer cars and trucks, the industry is moving to newer technologies in crash simulation. Crash simulation provides an inexpensive means to quickly simulate the effects of a barrier crash by reproducing its basic elements - acceleration, velocity and displacement - in a nondestructive test. Crash event timing and accuracy of reproduction are critical performance factors. This paper describes the unique features and capabilities offered by a new generation of crash simulators.

An analytical approach to developing motorcycle suspensions is presented. Typical uncontrolled and subjective evaluations that place limits on suspension development are curtailed through the use of a laboratory-based road simulation technique, which evaluates vehicle ride quality. Ride comfort is calculated using a specifically tailored NASA model after primary and secondary frequency regimes have been established for this type of motorcycle. Correlation between road and laboratory simulation is measured and compared to the road data variance. A designed experiment evaluates changes in ride quality as a function of suspension and tire pressure adjustments. Various suspension settings are repeated on the simulator and corresponding ride numbers are calculated for both environments. An analysis is performed to correlate ride quality improvements on the simulator with ride quality improvements in the field.