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This paper presents a statistical characterisation of the effects of variations in vehicle parameters on vehicle road load data using a quarter vehicle as a case study. A model of a quarter vehicle test rig constructed from a commercial SUV is created in a multi-body dynamics (MBD) simulation environment to reproduce the real-life behaviour of the SUV. The model is thereafter validated by correlating the response data collected from both the model and laboratory test rig to the same road input. In order to ensure that only the effects of the variation of the vehicle parameters are captured, a time domain drive signal for a kerb strike road event on the physical vehicle is generated from the proving ground data collected during durability testing of the vehicle.

The development of intelligent tire technology from concept to application covers multi-disciplinary fields. During the course of development, the computational method can play a significant role in understanding tire behavior, assisting in the design of the intelligent tire prototype system and in developing tire parameters estimation algorithm, etc. In this paper, a finite element tire model was adopted for developing a strain-based intelligent tire system. The finite element tire model was created considering the tire's composite structure and nonlinear properties of its constituent materials, and the FE model was also validated by physical tests. The FE model is used to study tire strain characteristics by steady state simulation for straight line rolling, traction and braking, as well as cornering. Tire loading conditions were estimated by feature extraction and data fitting.

Sloped medians provide a run-off area for errant vehicles so that they can be safely stopped off-road with or without barriers placed in the sloped median. However, in order to optimize the design of sloped medians and the containment barriers, it is essential to accurately model the behavior of vehicles on such sloped terrain surfaces. In this study, models of a vehicle fleet comprising a small sedan and a pickup truck and sloped terrain surface are developed in CarSim™ to simulate errant vehicle behavior on sloped median. Full-scale crash tests were conducted using the vehicle fleet driven across a 9.754 meters wide median with a 6:1 slope at speeds ranging from 30 to 70 km/h. Measured data such as the lateral accelerations of the vehicle as well as chassis rotations (roll and pitch) were synchronized with the vehicle motion obtained from the video data.