LAB HOMEWORK 02

Florida Institute of Technology

COMPUTER AIDED
ENGINEERING
MEE 3024 SPRING 2021
Dr. Jensen / Rafael Handal

[DATE]
NAME
ROLL NUMBER
Assumptions for Quarter-Equation Model:
Quarter equation model has been used keeping in view of the following assumptions:
 The tire is modelled as a linear spring without damping with Kt as spring
constant
 There is no rotational motion in wheel and body
 The behavior of spring and damper are linear
 The tire is always in contact with the road surface
 Effect of friction is neglected so that the residual structural damping is not
considered into vehicle modelling

SIMULINK MODEL:
The model has been made using MATLAB SIMULINK to represent the given
differential equations for the quarter-car model. The input is taken to be x g which is
the displacement of the ground while x c represents the vertical displacement of the
car. Three different cases for the same car will be performed by varying the tyres
(conditions given) while using the same step input.
The matrix for Ks was taken to be 50, 150, 250 and 350 while the value of Cs was
computed corresponding to these values. Two Add operators were used which
represent the two equations, for xc and xu where the respective terms merge after
getting their respective gains.
The equations has acceleration, velocity, and displacement terms therefore
integration blocks are used. Initially, two gains are provided which represent 1/m c and
1/mu for the two equations then gains for Ks and Cs are input from the matlab file for
the terms. In order to get graphical illustration of the step input and the outputs xc
scope blocks and output blocks were used. The model is so adjusted such that
minimal the operators were used while completely representing the two equations.

Given Conditions:
The results were obtained by giving a step function as an input and observing the
behavior of the system under the three given conditions:
 For white wall tyres
 For low profile wall tyres
 For sport run flats

MATLAB CODE:
clear all
clc
mu=360/32.2;
mc=3700/32.2;
ks=(50:100:350);
Cs=sqrt(((mu+mc)*ks)+2);
for k=1:1:3
kt_set=[2000 1200 400];
kt=kt_set(k);
sim('SIMULINKMODEL.slx')
figure
xcsignal=yout.getElement('vertdis_car');
t=xcsignal.Values.Time;
xc=xcsignal.Values.Data;
plot(t,xc);
legend('k=50','k=150','k=250','k=350');
xlabel('Time in seconds');
ylabel('Vertical Displacement of the Car in inches)');
title('Plot of Height vs Time');
end
INPUT STEP FUNCTION:
As an input, a step function was given with following specifications:
 Step Time: 1
 Initial Value: 0
 Final Value : 15

Following is the graphical representation of the above mentioned step input function:
RESULTS:
A period of 25 seconds was selected for the analysis. The graphs of 3 given cases
shown in the results show that 25 s is enough time to completely damp the given
input function’s effect. The tyre with the biggest K t, sports car, damps the input more
quickly while the tyre with low value of Kt requires more time to damp the same input.
White Walls:

Low Profile Walls:

Sport Run Flats:

CONCLUSION:
For all the cases k=1500 with seems to be appropriate choice as increasing the
value of k beyond 150 doesn’t have any significant effect.