Research on Electric Differential for Steering

Electric Vehicles

Zitong Wang, Wei Yao, and Wei Zhang

College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

21010181@zju.edu.cn

Abstract. Without traditional mechanical differentials, electric vehicles need

electric differentials to avoid slipping. This paper proposed a novel electric
differential control strategy to solve the problem. According to the given speed
and road conditions, target slip ratios can be calculated. Based on the closed-
loop control, this strategy regulates torques of the driving wheels to follow the
required slip ratios strictly. The simulation results indicate that it could realize
differential for the two driving wheels. Meanwhile, compared with traditional
mechanical differentials, the slip ratios of driving wheels and the risk of
slipping are minimized.

Keywords: Electric vehicles, electric differential, slip ratio.

1 Introduction

In traditional cars, driving wheels are fixed on the same shaft. When the car steers, the
longitudinal speeds of the driving wheels are in proportion to their steering radiuses.
There is a differential in the driving shaft to provide different rotation speeds to the
driving wheels, in order to avoid the danger of slipping. In electric vehicles, in-wheel
motors are used to drive the wheels, and there is no mechanical differential or driving
shaft. In other words, electric vehicles need electric differentials to provide different
rotation speeds to the driving wheels as the mechanical differentials do. Furthermore,
traditional mechanical differentials do not change the torque distribution to the
driving wheels; it may cause steering trouble on some circumstances. This issue
proposes a control strategy to accomplish the function of electric differential and
overcome these shortcomings.

2 The Steering Model of Electric Vehicles

Figure1 shows the model of an electric vehicle with front wheels steering and rear
wheels driving. The overall width is W, and wheel space is L(1)+L(2)( L(1)
represents the distance between the center of gravity and the front wheel shaft, L(2)
represents the distance between the center of gravity and the rear wheel shaft ). To
simplify the analysis, we do not take the motions of rolling and pitching into
consideration, since they have little influence on the process of steering.

D. Jin and S. Lin (Eds.): Advances in CSIE, Vol. 2, AISC 169, pp. 405–411.
springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012
406 Z. Wang, W. Yao, and W. Zhang

Fig. 1. The speed model of the steering of EV

Define the X-axis as the direction of the longitudinal motion of the EV, and the Y-
axis of the lateral motion. The motions of a steering EV include: motion on
longitudinal direction with a speed of u; motion on lateral direction with a speed of v;
yaw angle velocity: Wr. The resultant speed of EV is V= u 2 + v 2 , and the speeds of
⎧ u1 = u − Wr * W / 2 ⎧ v1 = v + Wr * L(1)
⎪ ⎪
⎪u 2 = u + Wr * W / 2 ⎪ v 2 = v + Wr * L(1)
four tyres are: ⎨ ,⎨ ;ui is the speed on the X-
⎪ u 3 = u − Wr * W / 2 ⎪v3 = v − Wr * L(2)
⎪⎩u 4 = u + Wr * W / 2 ⎪⎩v 4 = v − Wr * L(2)
axis, and vi is the speed on the Y-axis of tyre i.[1]
The steering angles of front wheels are β1=β2=β, and for the rear wheels β3=β4=0
There is a wheel slip angle α for each tyre, because of the lateral force between
ground and the tyre. [2] Angle α can be calculated by the following equation:
u
α=arctan –β . (1)
v
The driving wheels receive circumferential forces Fi (i=3, 4) caused by the driving
torque, while the steering wheels only receive forces of rolling friction fi (i=1, 2) on
the plane of tyre. The longitudinal slip ratio is defined as:
uw
S=1– . (2)
ωR
uw is the speed represented on the plane of tyre, ω is the rotation angular speed of the
tyre, and R is the radius of the tyre. For the steering wheels, we can conclude
uw=u*cosβ+v*sinβ, and for the driving wheels, uw =u.

Fi X

α β
Vi

Y
Pi

Fig. 2. The relationship between forces, angles and speeds of a tyre

 Research on Electric Differential for Steering Electric Vehicles 407

The circumferential force of a driving wheel is F=μ*N. μ is the coefficient of

adhesion, that is a function of slip ratio S. The value of the coefficient of adhesion
depends on the condition of the grounds. N is the vertical load of the tyre. Define
lateral slip ratio as tanα. The lateral force can be calculated by P=μy*N. μy is lateral
adhesion coefficient, a function of lateral slip ratio. For a driving wheel, the
torque equation is:
dω
Te-Mr-F*R= . (3)
dt
Te is the electromagnetic torque from motor; Mr is the rolling friction torque, F is
circumferential force, J is inertia moment of the tyre, and ω is rotational angular
speed. For a steering wheel, the force of rolling friction is f=Kr*N. Kr is the
coefficient of rolling friction, and it ranges from 0.15 to 0.005, according to the road
condition. [3]
The angle between f and X-axis is the steering angle β, as well as the angle
between P and Y-axis. So we can deduce the following equations:
Fx1=-f1*cosβ1-P1*sinβ1 . (4)
Fx2=-f2*cosβ2-P1*sinβ2 . (5)
Fy1=P1*cosβ1-f1*sinβ1 . (6)
Fy2=P2*cosβ2-f1*sinβ2 . (7)
Fx and Fy of a steering wheel are the resultant force represented on X-axis and on Y-
axis. Circumferential forces F3 and F4 of driving wheels are on X-axis and their
lateral forces P3 and P4 are on Y-axis.
When the EV is keeping rectilinear motion, it receives circumferential forces from
driving wheels, forces of rolling friction from steering wheels, and longitudinal wind
resistance. Longitudinal wind resistance Fa is calculated by:
2
Fa=Ka*Sa*V . (8)
Ka represents wind resistance coefficient, its value are from 0.3 to 0.6, and Sa is front
face area. When the EV begins to steer, all four tyres get lateral forces, and EV
receives centrifugal force Fr=M*V2/R. Centrifugal force represents M*V*Wr on X-
axis, and M*U*Wr on Y-axis. [4]

Fig. 3. The force model of the steering EV

408 Z. Wang, W. Yao, and W. Zhang

When EV is steering, the forces of tyres trigger a torque of X-axis, which changes
vertical loads of four tyres. The value of the torque is Fr*h, h is height of the center of
Mg * L(2)
gravity. The static vertical load of four tyres are N10= N20= , N30=
2 * ( L(1) + L(2))
Mg * L(1)
N40= . In the process of steering, N1= N10+ΔN1, N2= N20-ΔN1; N3=
2 * ( L(1) + L(2))
N30-ΔN2, N4= N40+ΔN2. ΔN1+ΔN2=Fr*h/W. Usually, we can use the following
Fr * h
equation for simplicity: ΔN1=ΔN2= . [5]
2*W
To summarize the modeling of steering EV, we could deduce the dynamics
equations:
Fx1+Fx2+F3+F4+M*v*Wr=M* u . (9)

Fy1+Fy2+P3+P4-M*u*Wr=M* v . (10)

(Fx 2 + F4 − Fx1 − F2) * W dWr

(Fy1+Fy2)*L(1)+ -(P3+P4)*L(2)=Iz* . (11)
2 dt
Iz is the inertia moment of the whole EV. With three equations above, we are able to
establish the dynamics model of steering EV in Matlab Simulink to simulate and
analyze.

3 Electric Differential Strategy Based on Closed Loop Control of

Slip Ratios

If we do not take the condition of steering braking into consideration, we should keep
the longitudinal coefficient of adhesion as low as possible to lower the risk of slipping
and remain a high value of lateral adhesion coefficient in order to provide enough
lateral forces, since the lower longitudinal adhesion coefficient the higher lateral
adhesion coefficient with the same value of lateral slip ratio. [6] In the book [5], there
is a conclusion that cars could get the highest circumferential resultant force if the
longitudinal slip ratios of the four tyres get the same value. It is also applicative for
the lateral resultant force and lateral slip ratios. We can also deduce that we could
minimize the maximum value of four slip ratios if they are in the same value with a
given resultant force.
The thesis [7] presented a strategy to control the torques of two driving wheels
based on different vertical loads. The method of that control strategy is also used to
minimize the maximum value of four slip ratios. However that is an open loop control
of torques, and can only take the volatility of vertical loads into consideration. As the
author acknowledged, that strategy simplifies many factors and is only applied for the
condition of low speed.
 Research on Electric Differential for Steering Electric Vehicles 409

This issue presents a new method of electric differential control strategy. It is a

double closed loop control strategy. Compared with former method, it sets the
longitudinal slip ratio as the controlled variable, rather than the torques, so it is more
straightforward.

Fig. 4. Block diagram of the closed loop electric differential control strategy

As shown in figure4, in the process of steering, we should first insure the

longitudinal speed constant u by controlling the total sum of the torques, and
considering the volatility of resultant force on longitudinal X-axis. It is a classical
feedback control loop with a PID regulator. The given speed is calculated by the
accelerator pedal, and the actual speed is detected by a car speed sensor. The regulator
outputs the total sum of torques which determines the longitudinal speed. Then the
external loop provides total sum of the torques for calculation module to calculate two
target slip ratios. The given total sum of torques divided by the sum of rear wheels
vertical loads is the target slip ratio for both driving wheels.
Ttotal
(12)
S3*=S4*= Ku * Rk * (N3 + N 4) .
Mg * L(1)
N3 and N4 have been calculated before, N3+N4= . Ku is the scale factor
L(1) + L(2)
of the adhesion coefficient.
Then with the help of the internal control loop, the actual slip ratios are managed to
follow the target slip ratios. It is also a classical feedback control loop, receiving the
target slip ratio S* from the calculation module and detected slip ratio S from the
system. A PID regulator is put into use, for better control performance. Since the EV
is a large inertia element, Kp in the PID regulator should be large enough to meet the
demand of rapidity. In the control applications, we need vehicle speed sensor to
calculate slip ratios.

4 Simulations and Analyses

Establish the dynamics model in Matlab Simulink as figure5, the system variables are
defined as follow: vehicle weight M=800Kg, L (1) =L (2) =0.8m, vehicle width
W=1.2m, radius of tyre Rk=0.32m, inertia moment of tyre J=13.7kgm2, and the
vehicle inertia moment Iz=600kgm2. Simulation begins with start longitudinal speed
u=8m/s, and the steering angle is 2.8 degrees. Simulation results are shown below.
410 Z. Wang, W. Yao, and W. Zhang

Fig. 5. Dynamics model of steering EV in Simulink

Comparing figure6 and figure7, the traditional mechanical differential distributes

torque equally, it brings out different slip ratios between two driving wheels, and the
inner wheel has a larger one, which means higher risk of slipping. With the new
control method the two slip ratios get very close, much smaller than the slip ratio of
inner wheel with traditional differential. It reduces the possibility of slipping and can
bring larger lateral force for the inner driving wheel.

0.03 S3x S4x

0.028

0.026

0.024

0.022

0.02 t(s)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fig. 6. Slip ratios of driving wheels with closed-loop control of slip ratios

0.04
S3xS4x

0.035

0.03
S
0.025

0.02

0.015 t(s)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fig. 7. Slip ratios of driving wheels with traditional distribution of torques

 Research on Electric Differential for Steering Electric Vehicles 411

26.4
ω
ω(rad/s)
26.2

26

25.8

25.6

25.4
t(s)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fig. 8. Different rotation angular speeds of driving wheels

From figure 8, we can see that the electric differential achieves differential of the
rotation angular speeds for two driving wheels.

5 Conclusion
This issue presents a new electric differential control strategy for steering EV. It
contains two closed control loop, one for the longitudinal speed, and the other for slip
ratios. Using two PID regulators, it manages to keep the slip ratios of driving wheels
on a target value when the electric vehicle is steering. From the result of simulation,
we can see that it realizes differential for two driving wheels, and reduces the risk of
slipping for the inner driving wheel as well.

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