Influencing factors on steering wheel torque

during the static parking manoeuvre

Mario Weinberger M. Sc., Dr.-Ing. Gianpiero Vena

BMW Group, Forschungs- und Innovationszentrum
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Schramm
Lehrstuhl für Mechatronik, Universität Duisburg-Essen

© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH 2017

M. Bargende, H.-C. Reuss, J. Wiedemann (Hrsg.), 17. Internationales Stuttgarter Symposium,
Proceedings, DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-16988-6_71

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Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

Abstract
The prediction of the maximum resistant torque of the steering wheel is an essential part
of the vehicle development process. The reference benchmark for the evaluation of this
maximum steering wheel torque is the static parking manoeuver. Numerical simulations
and experimental measurements, which predict and verify this torque, show a non-
negligible deviance. The current static parking manoeuvre measurement procedure
shows a high variability in the measurements and the cause of this deviation is difficult
to identify. Therefore, the current static parking measurement procedure needs to be
more precise and accurate. In order to achieve this target, the work presented here re-
veals the main sources of results uncertainty and evaluates the influence of the principal
boundary condition parameters. Based on the investigations an optimized measurement
procedure, which can be taken as absolute reference benchmark for the prediction of the
steering wheel resistant torque, is derived. This new method is then used to analyse the
influence of the vehicle parameters on steering wheel resistant torque.

1 Introduction
One of the fundamental prerequisites of the vehicle development process is the predic-
tion of the resistant torque experienced at the steering wheel during both the static and
the dynamic manoeuvres. This is necessary for the early evaluation of the steering
feeling of the driver and for the targeting of the development processes of the mechan-
ical and mechatronic subsystems mainly involved in the steering manoeuver, such as
tires, axle and steering system [8].
The resistant steering wheel torque is mainly influenced by the mechanical character-
istic of the tire, by the kinematic configuration of the axle and by the friction
resistance of the axle and of the steering subsystems [1, 4]. The steering wheel torque
is therefore a fundamental design parameter resulting from these subsystems and a
prediction error can negatively influence their development. Numerical simulations
and experimental measurements predict and verify the steering torque during the
development phase of the vehicle (fig. 1).

Figure 1: V-Model

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 Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

Detailed mathematical models of the tire, steering and axle subsystems are defined, in
an early stage, to support the development activities of the physical components, while
full vehicle measurements are in later stages executed to verify and validate the design
decision. Therefore, the experimental measurement represents the reference for the veri-
fication and validation processes and its quality and reliability has to be guaranteed [3].
By looking at the steering wheel resistant torque prediction, with reference to both the
static and the dynamic manoeuvres, a lack of quality regarding the prediction of the
steering behaviour in static and low speed conditions was identified. The static park-
ing manoeuvre [8], typically assumed as reference for the low speed range, is indeed
particularly difficult to be analysed.
The particular sliding condition of the tire and the high steering angle value are
the distinctive features of this manoeuvre [5]. The steering torque reaches its maxi-
mum values and also a small prediction error percentage are not negligible in absolute
terms as they can result in an incorrect dimensioning of the power steering unit and an
inappropriate development of the tire and suspension subsystems.
Regarding this background, the research work presented here focuses on the analysis
of the currently used measurement procedure of the parking manoeuvre, to point out
the main sources of results unreliability and evaluate the influence of the principal
boundary conditions parameters (chap. 3). The results of this analysis process are
used to identify a new optimized measurement procedure of the parking manoeuvre
which can be taken as absolute benchmark for the prediction of the steering wheel re-
sistant torque (chap.4). This new optimized measurement procedure is finally used to
analyse the influence of the most important vehicle parameters, with reference to the
variation of steering wheel resistant torque (chap.5).
The new optimized measurement procedure represents both the starting point of the
mathematical models optimization of the tire, steering and axle subsystems, and the
absolute reference benchmark of the physical development activities of these.

2 State of the art

The parking manoeuvre represents the most stressful load circumstance of the steering
system and defines the maximum loads target of its power-assistance unit develop-
ment [7]. The maximum steering wheel resistant torque usually occurs with the max-
imum steering angle, along with a standing vehicle and braked tires. This manoeuvre,
commonly known as “static parking” [8], is one of the reference design configurations
of the vehicle and represents the focus of the following research work.
The reduction of the steering wheel torque experienced during the static parking
manoeuvre and the maintenance of a satisfactory steering wheel torque during han-
dling manoeuvres is one of the main challenges of the vehicle development process

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Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

[5]. To reduce the static parking torque and not adversely affect the handling torque
the tire and axle subsystems have to be optimized to reduce the aligning torque and
the torque transmission ratio between steering wheel and tires, occurring at the
maximum steering angle position, respectively. These are the most influential para-
meters for the steering wheel torque, as described in [10].
The static parking torque has to be predicted for the design process and thus, reliable
mathematical models and measurement procedures are required. However, the current
procedures of mathematical modelling and experimental measurement of the static
parking manoeuvre are unfortunately often unable to reach a reliable and accurate
prediction of the static steering torque. On the one hand, the tire models are usually
either too complicated or too simplified for a reasonable description of the tire
behaviour, while on the other hand the measurement procedure is usually not detailed,
precise and reproducible enough. The definition of a new measurement procedure is
therefore considered as a primary requirement of this research work, essential for the
description of the cause-effect-chain of the static parking manoeuvre, for the deliver-
ing of reliable results and for the targeting of the optimization activities of the tire
mathematical models [13].
The currently used measurement procedure of the static parking manoeuvre is made
with sensor-equipped full vehicle prototypes able to measure the tie rod forces and the
steering wheel angular position. The road is a predefined paved road and a manual
steering wheel movement is performed. The influencing factors typically analysed are
the weight distribution of the vehicle, the inflation pressure of the tires and the ambi-
ent temperature. The quality and the reliability of the current results are frequently not
able to guarantee a safe prediction of the static parking torque and a detailed descrip-
tion of its cause-effect-chain. The number of the measured parameters must be
increased and the tire-road interaction has to be better evaluated and monitored.
Therefore, the main target of this work is the definition of a new measurement proce-
dure for the static parking manoeuvre, aiming to improve the quality of the steering
wheel torque prediction and describe the cause-effect-chain of this manoeuvre. This
procedure is proposed as a reference benchmark for the development of the tire, axle
and steering subsystems, for the description of their mechanical behaviour and for the
development of their provisional mathematical models.

3 Static parking manoeuvre analysis

To understand the cause-effect-chain and to define a new and more reliable measure-
ment procedure, a detailed analysis of the static parking manoeuvre is performed. The
aim is to point out the main sources of results unreliability, to evaluate the influence
of the principal boundary conditions parameters and investigate the main subsystems

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 Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

behaviour. In the following the measurement setup, the boundary conditions, as

well as the reference measurements definition used for the subsequent analysis of the
vehicle behaviour at static parking manoeuvre are described.

3.1 Measurement Setup

The sensor setup consists of Kistler wheel force sensors1 suited to measure the tire
forces and moments and an optical measurement system2 to measure of the tire and
chassis displacement. The strain gauge sensors3 for the measurement of the steering
rack forces are attached on the left and right end side of the steering rack while the
sensors for the left and right tie rod forces are centred in the left and right tie rod.
The actuator equipment consists of a steering robot4 for the steering wheel rotation
and a manual braking pedal for constant braking torque setting.

3.2 Boundary Conditions

The boundary conditions monitored and imposed to the measurement procedure
are the road surface wear level and temperature, the tires wear level, temperature,
inflation pressure and vertical load as well as the ambient temperature.

3.3 Reference measurement

For a detailed and quantitative evaluation of the static parking manoeuvre an optimal
measurement procedure is defined and assumed as reference benchmark for the sub-
sequent analysis of the boundary conditions influence. This foresees the use of all
available actuators and the strict observance of each described boundary condition.
The measurement process consists of three different phases: boundary conditions
setting and control, static parking manoeuvre execution and results post-processing.
Boundary conditions setting and control
For the definition of the reference measurement of the static parking manoeuvre an
optimal (regarding the available resources of this research) boundary condition setup
is defined:

1
KISTLER RoaDyn® P6xy TT System 2000
2
AICON optical measurement system WheelWatch
3
full-bridge strain gauge sensor
4
ABD SR 60 steering robot

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Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

Road condition: To impose a reference friction coefficient of the surface an industrial

sandpaper is used. To guarantee the friction coefficient consistency, the surface abra-
sion is constantly monitored to avoid any significant change.
Tire condition: To minimize the tires wear influence, the tire tread is segmented into
different contact patches and their wear level is continuously monitored. Accordingly,
the different investigations can be compared under homogeneous wear level conditions.
Temperature condition: To minimize the temperature influence, the temperature of tires
as well as of friction surfaces and ambient temperature are monitored. Accordingly, the
measurements are only performed when all temperatures are in between 24 °C and 26 °C.
Steering wheel input condition: A constant velocity of 150 °/s is chosen as reference.
This is comparable with a standard driver velocity. The steering rotates from the zero-
angle position (straight forward position) to the full left lock, to the full right lock and
then to the neutral position with two consequently repetitions.
Braking condition: A manual locking mechanism is used to lock the brakes during the
whole manoeuvre.
Vehicle influence parameters
The vehicle parameters identified for the sensibility analysis of the steering wheel
torque are:
Tire vertical load: To minimize the vertical load influence, the vertical load is set on a
constant value of 4.500 N per wheel. Before the execution of each measurement, this
value is validated with the signals from the Kistler wheel system.
Inflation pressure: To minimize the inflation pressure influence, the inflation pressure
is set on a constant value of 2.4 bar per wheel. This value is controlled before the
execution of each measurement.
Offset: The wheel is set on a default value and will not be changed during the
reference measurements.
Static parking manoeuvre execution
As soon as all boundary conditions as vehicle influencing parameters are prepared
and verified, the parking manoeuvre is executed. Hereby the signals from the ex-
ternal optical measurement system are synchronised with the signals from the
Kistler-wheel force measurement system and the strain gauges (fig. 2). Simulta-
neously with the Activation of the steering robot and thus, the start of the steering
wheel rotation, the measurement signals are recorded.

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 Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

Figure 2: KISTLER RoaDyn® P6xy TT System 2000 combined with AICON optical measure-
ment system WheelWatch

Results post-processing
The steering rack force results as a summation of the two forces from the sensors on
the steering rack. As shown in figure 3, this sum can be assumed to be nearly the same
as the sum of the tie rod forces. The dispersion, induced by the rising angle between
tie rod and steering rack, rises along with the travel of the steering rack. Thus, as the
sensors on the tie rods can be calibrated more accurately, the sum of the maximum tie
rod forces instead of the steering rack forces is observed during this papers research.

Figure 3: Sum of the tie rod forces F and sum of the steering rack forces versus rack displacement x

Figure 4: Relative standard deviation and range of the measured tie rod forces after hitting the
first stop for the first, second and third time

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Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

Due to the reason that the vehicles steering behaviour is not fully symmetric for steer-
ing left and right, the measured forces need to be treated separately. As shown in fig-
ure 4, the measured tie rod force’s overall dispersion, described with the relative range
and relative standard deviation (RSD), after reaching the right lock for the third time,
is lower than in the right lock for the first and second time. This behaviour is not valid
for all sets of measurements. For this reason, the forces reproducibility of each set of
measurement is calculated for all wheel locks and thus, for all local peaks. Based on
the comparison of the different relative standard deviations, the end stop with the
lowest dispersion is selected for one set which includes the analyzation of one influ-
encing parameter. With the combination of the new reference measurement setup and
the selection of the tie rod forces to analyse, the overall reproducibility is raised.

Figure 5: RSD and relative range of the former method, the reference measurement and of the
reference measurement if the most reproducible end stop is not selected

Figure 5 shows that relative range is reduced from 5.0 % to 1.8 % while the RSD is
reduced from 2.1 % to 1.0 %. If no selection of the end stop is performed and the
mean value of the peak forces in the maximum rack displacement is calculated nstead,
the relative range rises to 2.2 % and the RSD to 1.2 %.

3.4 Analysis of the boundary conditions

Adopting the reference measurement procedure, a sensitivity analysis is performed
with reference to the variation of the boundary condition parameters like road surface,
steering velocity and contact patch. Therefore, each parameter is changed and the
resulting tie rod forces as well as the dispersion are compared to the ones of the
reference measurement.

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 Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

3.4.1 Road surface

Thus, the steering rack forces mainly result from the friction between tire contact
patch and road, the type of used road surface plays an important role for the parking
manoeuvre.
Since tire tests are often performed on sandpaper, a self-sticking sandpaper with a
homogenous friction coefficient is used for the reference measurements. The sandpa-
per delivers a friction coefficient similar to the one on the tire testing machines,
throughout a comparison of the parking measurements and the tire measurements of a
test rig becomes simplified. Furthermore, it can easily be replaced as soon as it shows
a change in its friction coefficient through to wear. Figure 6 displays that measuring
on a paved road instead of sandpaper raises the relative range from 1.3 % to 2.6 % and
the RSD from 1.0 % to 1.3 %.

Figure 6: Comparison of the RSD and relative Range of the reference measurement with the
same measurement on a paved road instead of sandpaper

Figure 7: Number of road surfaces displaying the correspondend sum of maximum tie rod forces

To evaluate the friction coefficient of the sandpaper for its use as future road surface
replacement, a field trip was made. For this purpose, the sum of the maximum tie rod
forces during parking manoeuvres on different paved road surfaces, which are com-
monly used by customers, are recorded. Those road surfaces include different parking
areas, public roads or parking houses. Figure 7 presents the frequency of occurrence
of the different maximum tie rod forces on the tested paved road surfaces.

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Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

The measured maximum sum of the tie rod forces on different paved roads is within a
relative range of 25 %. On all road surfaces, the measured tie rod forces are lower
than the forces measured on a sandpaper surface. Thus, the target of the parking
manoeuver is the prediction of the maximum steering rack forces in a worst case
scenario, the sandpaper delivers an appropriate friction coefficient.

3.4.2 Steering wheel velocity

To examine the influence of the constant steering wheel velocity, the velocity is var-
ied within a customer relevant range of 50 °/s to 250 °/s. As seen in figure 8, the max-
imum sum of the tie rod forces occurs at 150 °/s. Thus, as the parking manoeuvers are
intended to determine the highest steering forces, this velocity is also used for the fu-
ture measurement procedure. The steering robot has no significant influence on the
relative range as well as on the RSD compared to manual steering. With a driver steer-
ing manually, the velocity is within a range of 10 °/s while the velocity of the steering
robot is within a range of 0.5 °/s.

Figure 8: Normalised sum of the maximum tie rack forces at different steering wheel velocities

3.4.3 Tire wear

The wear condition of the tire has an impact on the friction forces, as stated in [2]. To
investigate the influence of tire, the parking manoeuvre was performed 15 times on
the same contact patch. The influence of tire wear on the steering rack forces during
the parking manoeuvre is shown in figure 9.

Figure 9: Normalised sum of the maximum tie rod forces at different tire wear levels

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 Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

The more often the car is steering on the same contact patch without any other usage
in between the measurements the nearer the forces approach to limit. Compared to
measuring on the same contact patch thrice, the dispersion can be reduced for about
30 % through the change of the contact patch after each single measurement (fig. 10).

4 New measurements manoeuvre definition

Figure 10 shows that the reference measurement method presents a significant reduc-
tion of the dispersion compared to the former measurement method. The use of sand-
paper as well as the observation of the correct tire wear level are the main reasons for
this higher reproducibility. Whereas, the enhancements in reproducibility through the
use of a steering robot, and thus with a more constant steering wheel velocity, is mi-
nor. Since the use of a steering robot is expensive compared to the resulting
advantages, the use of a steering robot will be omitted for future measurements as a
consequence.

Figure 10: Comparison of the results dispersion with different measurement boundary conditions

5 Sensitivity analysis of the steering wheel torque

After the investigation of the measurement procedure’s boundary conditions, the in-
fluence of the vehicle dependent parameters like tire vertical load, inflation pressure
and offset are considered. Those influencing factors on steering rack force or steering
wheel moments are inter alia investigated by [9] and [11].
The difference in this research is the additional measurement of the forces and mo-
ments in the wheel centre as well as the wheel centres displacement. Those measure-
ments are required to validate and to evolve tire models as well as to define targets for

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Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

future tire properties. The definition of the different tire properties is necessary
because the self-aligning torque depends on the longitudinal and lateral tire forces as
well as on the moment around the tires z-axis [6].

5.1 Wheel load

The wheel load has a direct impact on friction forces on the tires. They mainly deter-
mine the occurring steering rack force. The measurement results can be compared to
those presented in [9] and [11]. As shown in figure 11, the vertical force influence can
be described as a polynomial of second degree [10].

Figure 11: Normalised Sum of the maximum tie rod forces in dependence of vertical load

Figure 12: Normalised longitudinal and lateral force in dependence of vertical load

Figure 13: Normalised bore torque in dependence of vertical load

Figure 12 and 13 reveal that the longitudinal and lateral tire forces are limited whereas
the torque on the tire around its z-axis, the bore torque, is increasing nearly linear with
the vertical load. This inclination results from the higher contact patch pressure,

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 Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

which leads, according to the friction law, to higher tangential forces. The tire foot-
print is increased as well, whereby contact elemental forces with a bigger distance to
the turning point emerge. The multiplication of this forces with the bigger lever arm
lead to a rising bore torque.

5.2 Inflation pressure

The measurement of the sum of the maximum tie rod forces with different tire infla-
tion pressures is presented in figure 14. With increasing inflation pressure, the sum of
the tie rod forces, and thus the steering rack force, is declining. One cause for this be-
haviour is the influence of the tire inflation pressure on the tire bore torque shown in
figure 15. These results can be comparedto [9] and [11]. A relocation of contact pres-
sure from the shoulders to the central region occurs along with the increase of the tire in-
flation pressure. Through this relocation, the contact pressure distribution becomes more
uniform which results in contact shear forces concentration in the central region. This
phenomenon is probably responsible for the observed tire bore torque reduction for an
inflation pressure increase [12].

Figure 14: Normalised sum of the maximum tie rod forces in dependence of tire inflation pressure

Figure 15: Normalised bore torque in dependence of tire inflation pressure

5.3 Steering offset

To understand the influence of rim offset on the steering rack forces, measurements
with the same inflation pressure and vertical load while varying the offset are made.
Figure 16 presents the increasing sum of the tie rod forces while figure 17 shows that

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Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

the bore torque decreases with increasing rim offset values. According to the meas-
urements from [9] the self-aligning torque stays nearly constant with an increasing
offset. However, the brakes were not applied during the measurements of [9] and the
kingpin axis was vertical. Therefore, the tire was able to roll and the moment induced
by the vertical force around the kingpin axis was non-existent. In contrast to these
measurements, the brakes are applied and the kingpin axis is not vertical in the ma-
noeuvre described in this paper. Higher offset values lead to increasing longitudinal
displacement. As the tire spin is locked, the longitudinal tire force is rising with high-
er displacement and thus, with higher offset values. This behaviour is shown in figure
18. Furthermore, the aligning torque induced by the vertical force around the kingpin
axis is rising as well with higher offset values due to the larger liver arm. Through this
phenomenon and because of the influence of longitudinal tire forces on aligning
torque, the steering rack force is increasing with higher offset values.

Figure 16: Sum of the measured maximum tie rod forces in dependence of wheel offset

Figure 17: Bore torque in dependence of wheel offset

Figure 18: Longitudinal force in dependence of wheel offset

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 Influencing factors on steering wheel torque during the static parking manoeuvre

6 Conclusion
After an overview of the steering wheel prediction process, the research results pre-
sented in this paper has pointed out the influence of the measurement procedure
boundary conditions on the measurement dispersion. According to the boundary con-
ditions effect on the measurement results dispersion, a new measurement setup with a
significant higher reducibility of the measurements was defined. Based on this opti-
mized measurement method, an accurate analysis of the vehicle parameters effect on
maximum steering wheel resistance torque was performed. The measurement results
of the tire longitudinal and lateral forces during the static parking manoeuvre revealed
that, along with the bore torque, these forces also effect the maximum steering torque
and should be considered during the future tire design process. Due to the increased
accuracy and precision, the new measurement procedure is used as reference for the
development and validation of the simulation models.

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