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Vehicle dynamics estimation has been the subject of study for some years now. If on-board vehicle control systems can be provided with information such as side slip angle, lateral force etc. then stability of the vehicle can be improved. To estimate these dynamic variables different observers have been used e.g., sliding mode, fuzzy logic, neural networks etc. In this article the authors propose an extended Kalman filter to estimate vehicle side slip angle. Roll angle is estimated using vertical loads as input. First, a linear Kalman filter is used to filter out the vertical forces and estimate roll angle. This information is then used to estimate the vehicle side slip angle. To take into account the nonlinearities concerning lateral vehicle dynamics, Pacejka magic formula is used to model lateral forces. Estimated results are then compared with simulations, showing good accuracy.

This paper presents a methodology for the assessment of the NVH (noise vibration and harshness) performance of Dual Clutch Transmissions (DCTs) depending on some transmission design parameters, e.g. torsional backlash in the synchronizers or clutch disc moment of inertia, during low speed maneuvers. A 21-DOFs nonlinear dynamic model of a C-segment passenger car equipped with a DCT is used to simulate the torsional behavior of the driveline and to estimate the forces at the bearings. The impacts between the teeth of two engaging components, e.g. gears and synchronizers, generate impulses in the forces, thus loading the bearings with force time-history characterized by rich frequency content. A broadband excitation is therefore applied to the gearbox case, generating noise and vibration issues.

An Electronic Stability Program (ESP) control logic is designed. It is devoted to stabilize vehicle during cornering maneuvers. The aim of the activity is to obtain a feed forward (FF) control structure, capable of better performance than a previously developed closed loop one. The efficiency of ESP intervention is determined observing yaw rate peak reduction and oscillation damping time during step steer maneuver, together with vehicle side slip angle containment and longitudinal speed loss. A single track vehicle model is used to obtain two transfer functions describing vehicle and active system behavior. A third transfer function is derived from active vehicle frequency response that is the designer's target. The interaction between the transfer functions permits to design a feed forward control logic, which is then merged in a closed loop control structure in order to ensure fail safe conditions and control robustness.

The paper presents a simulation methodology created to support an integrated safety system development process which was tested for the side impact collision load case. The methodology is based on the coupled and complementary use of two software packages: PreScan and Madymo. PreScan was utilized for designing two traffic scenarios and the sensing and control systems for the side collision recognition, while Madymo was utilized for assessing the effects of pre-crash deployment of thorax airbag. The collision conditions from the scenarios were used as input to define a Madymo side collision model of the host vehicle and to investigate and optimize several airbag deployment parameters: pre-crash deployment time, airbag permeability, vent hole size and vent hole opening time.

The paper deals with the methodology implemented by Magneti Marelli and Politecnico di Torino Vehicle Dynamics Research group to develop and verify the software of active chassis and powertrain control systems through a Hardware-In-the-Loop automated procedure. It is a general procedure which can be adopted for all the active chassis control systems, not only for their development but also for the verification of their reliability. The steps of the procedure are described in the first part of the paper. The specific application on which this paper is focused concerns robotized gearboxes.

Antilock Braking System (ABS) is designed to prevent wheels from locking, in order to enhance vehicle directional stability during braking manoeuvres. Basically, ABS closed-loop control logic uses tyres slip as control variable. Slip is estimated by comparing vehicle reference speed with the angular speed of each wheel. Thus it is crucial to correctly estimate the longitudinal vehicle speed, in order to get a control system capable of good performance. The control is also affected by road condition; since vehicles are not equipped with sensors able to measure the tyre/road friction coefficient, an other estimation has to be performed. The paper presents an algorithm for the estimation of longitudinal speed, based on the measurements of the four wheel angular speed. A method to assess the road friction, commonly known as “learning phase” is also described: it is carried out during the early stage of the active control intervention and relies on the wheel rotation sensors as well.

This paper explores the potentiality of reducing noise and vibration of a vehicle transmission thanks to powertrain control integration with active braking. Due to external disturbances, coming from the driver, e.g. during tip-in / tip-out maneuvers, or from the road, e.g. crossing a speed bump or driving on a rough road, the torsional backlashes between transmission rotating components (gears, synchronizers, splines, CV joints), may lead to NVH issues known as clonk. This study initially focuses on the positive effect on transmission NVH performance of a concurrent application of a braking torque at the driving wheels and of an engine torque increase during these maneuvers; then a powertrain/brake integrated control strategy is proposed. The braking system is activated in advance with respect to the perturbation and it is deactivated immediately after to minimize losses.

The design and testing of innovative components and control logics for future vehicular platform represents a challenging task in the automotive field. The use of scale model vehicles constitutes an interesting alternative for testing assessment by decreasing time and cost efforts with a potential benefit in terms of safety. The target of this research work is the development of a customized scale vehicle platform for verifying and validating innovative control strategies in safe conditions and with cost reduction. Consequently, the electrification of a radio-controlled 1:5 scale vehicle is carried out and a customized remote real-time controller is installed onboard. One of the main features of this commercial product is its modular characteristics that allows the modification of some component properties, such as the viscous coefficient of the shock absorbers, the stiffness of the springs and the suspension geometry.

During some critical maneuvers, transmission systems using Dual Mass Flywheel (DMF) may experience overtorques, which could lead to structural damages of the transmission components. In a dual mass flywheel, total inertia is divided into two parts: a primary mass connected to the engine and a secondary mass to the transmission. The torque delivered by the engine is transferred from one mass to the other through a drive plate and a set of arc springs, the latter absorbing the torsional oscillations coming from internal combustion engine and the shocks caused by fast clutch engagements. This paper investigates overtorque issues and proposes a solution based on a torque limiter, consisting of a friction clutch inserted between the two masses, that limits the maximum torque transmitted through it. The basic idea is to replace the classic flat drive plate with a tapered drive plate that functions as a Belleville spring.

Chassis Control Systems development methodology is nowadays strongly based on analyzing performance by using PC vehicle dynamics simulation. Generally, the overall design, test bench and road validation process is continuously accompanied by simulation. The Base Model Simulator was developed by the Vehicle Dynamics Group at the Department of Mechanics of Politecnico di Torino both to satisfy this requirement and for educational purposes. It considers a complete vehicle dynamics mathematical model, including driver, powertrain, driveline, vehicle body, suspensions, steering system, brakes, tires. The Base Model Simulator takes in account the suspensions system elastokinematics, including, for example, automatic computation of camber variation during the vehicle roll motions. Tire model considered are either Pacejka's models or experimental data.

This paper investigates the effect of the powertrain mounting system on the linear and nonlinear torsional dynamical behaviour of a transmission system. To this aim, two dynamic models, one with rigid mounts and the other with flexible mounts, are presented and compared: the first model considers only the torsional dynamics of transmission and driveline, while the second model includes also a 3 degrees-of-freedom powertrain block. The mechanical coupling and interaction between the powertrain block and transmission system is discussed and formulated. These models are then analyzed in terms of vibrational mode shapes, natural frequencies and Frequency Response Functions (FRFs); a sensitivity analysis of the main transmission parameters, e.g. the gear ratio, is also presented.