Exam Vehicle Dynamics - 4L150, 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

Exam Vehicle Dynamics - 4L150

14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

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Student number:

General remarks
• exam questions must be returned!
o Write your name and student number on the exam questions
o Without the returned exam questions your exam is not valid!
• answers may also be given in Dutch
• the answers to the multiple choice questions should be written on the exam paper
• a calculator is allowed
• no laptop, no PDA, no mobile phone, no (lecture) notes, no books, etc. are allowed
• please note that the exam consists of 4 parts

Final note
Remember to also return the exam questions with your name and student number on it!

Success!
Igo Besselink

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Exam Vehicle Dynamics - 4L150, 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

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 Exam Vehicle Dynamics - 4L150, 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

1. Multiple-choice questions

1) A VW Beetle owner is complaining that his car has too much oversteer. The Beetle has
a rear mounted engine and the boot (“de kofferruimte”) is located at the front of the car.
Which of the following solutions will certainly not work to solve the oversteer problem?

a) use a stiffer anti-roll bar at the rear

b) use wider tyres on the rear
c) put some bricks in the boot
d) add a spoiler on the rear of the car

2) Below, the normalised tyre/axle characteristics (Fyi/Fzi) of a vehicle are shown. The
index i indicates the front or rear axle, 1 or 2 respectively.
Which is the corresponding handling diagram for this vehicle?

Fyi 1 oversteer
rear slide
Fzi 2 A
understeer

a1 , a 2 front slide

B understeer

rear slide

C
oversteer

front slide understeer

D
oversteer

a1- a 2

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 Exam Vehicle Dynamics - 4L150, 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

3) Which statement is not true?

The Magic Formula…
a) is used worldwide in the vehicle industry to analyse vehicle handling
b) was invented in the Netherlands by Egbert Bakker and prof. Pacejka
c) parameters are determined using an iterative optimisation process
d) is a computationally “slow” tyre model due to the large number of equations

4) In which figure is the relation between measured vertical tyre load Fz and peak friction
coefficient µ of the tyre correctly depicted?
a) m b) m

Fz Fz

c) m d) m

Fz Fz

5) In vehicle models the tyre relaxation length is included to get a better correspondence
with measurement results. This is because:
a) the driver cannot steer infinitely fast
b) it takes some time to develop a side force
c) the tyre needs to roll some distance to develop a side force
d) a mathematical trick is needed to get the phase shift right

6) Statement: an ESP system will correct excessive understeer by applying a brake force
at:
a) the outer rear wheel
b) the inner rear wheel
c) the outer front wheel
d) the inner front wheel

7) The linear single track vehicle model is valid up to about 4 m/s2. Which of the following
model extensions will be most effective in order to increasing the validity range?
a) extension to four wheels (two track model, body roll, linear tyre characteristics)
b) including nonlinear effective axle characteristics
c) including tyre relaxation length
d) including steering compliance

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 Exam Vehicle Dynamics - 4L150, 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

8) Removed (not applicable anymore)

9) The figure below shows the effective axle characteristic of a vehicle. If or how does this
characteristic change if both wheels of the axle have toe out?

a) line does not change

b) line 1 is correct
c) line 2 is correct
d) the correct answer is not shown

10) Some experiments are done with a toy car, the wheels on the rear axle of the vehicle
are blocked with an elastic band. In the first experiment the car rolls of a slope with the
nose downwards. In the second experiment the car rolls of the slope backwards.
rear wheels are blocked rear wheels are blocked

Will the car rotate 180 degrees around the vertical axis or not?
a) experiment 1: yes experiment 2: no
b) experiment 1: no experiment 2: no
c) experiment 1: no experiment 2: yes
d) experiment 1: yes experiment 2: yes

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 Exam Vehicle Dynamics - 4L150, 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

2. Brush tyre model

In the figure below a side view and top view of the brush model are given. In this case we
may assume that the side slip angle is small and that we have adhesion of the bristles over
the entire contact area. The wheel is rolling freely (no braking or driving).

V
x
Mz
a

Fy

a a

In the figure we see the following symbols:

V forward velocity
α side slip angle
x longitudinal coordinate along the plane of symmetry of the tyre
a half of the tyre contact length
v lateral bristle deflection
Fy lateral force
Mz self-aligning moment
Ω rotational velocity

The lateral stiffness of the bristles per unit of length equals cpy. The force per unit of length
equals qy and we get q y ( x) = c py v( x) .

a) Derive an analytical expression for the lateral bristle deflection v as a function of the
longitudinal coordinate x. (So v(x)=….). Check the function; for x=a , v(a) should be
zero. For x=-a the lateral bristle deflection v reaches its maximum.
a
b) Calculate the lateral force Fy using the result of a) and by solving Fy = ∫ q y ( x)dx .
−a
c) Calculate the self-aligning moment Mz using the result of a) and by solving
a
M z = ∫ q y ( x) xdx .
−a

d) Give an analytical expression for the magnitude of the cornering stiffness C fα and
self-aligning stiffness Cmα of the brush model.

e) Determine an expression for the magnitude of the pneumatic trail t.

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 Exam Vehicle Dynamics - 4L150, 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

3. Rear wheel steering

In this exercise we analyse the cornering behaviour of a vehicle equipped with rear wheel
steering. This is done using a single track vehicle model, see figure below.

l
b
a
β
α2 -v
V
α1
δ2 r u
Fy2 δ1

Fy1

In this exercise tyre behaviour may assumed to be linear and relaxation effects are
neglected.

a) Derive/give the equations of motion for the bicycle model in the lateral and yaw
direction. Note: it is sufficient to use the lateral forces Fyi. Expressions for the tyre
behaviour or side slip angles do not have to be provided here.

b) Give the expressions for the side slip angles α 1 , α 2 and β as a function of motion of
the centre of gravity (velocities u , v , r ) and steering angles δ 1 and δ 2 . You may
assume small angles: tan( x) = x

c) We will now consider steady-state cornering with a constant forward velocity V and
fixed corner radius R . Simplify the equations obtained under a) and b).
r 1
Assume: u ≈ V , Fy1 = C1α 1 , Fy 2 = C 2α 2 and = .
u R

The following control law will be used: δ 2 = K ⋅ δ 1 , so the rear wheel steering angle is
proportional to the steering angle applied to the front wheel. The gain K will be a function
of the forward velocity V . Aim of the controller is to make the vehicle side slip angle β
equal to zero under steady-state driving conditions. For convenience we may assume that
C1 =C2 and b=a.

d) Make two (big!) sketches of the bicycle model to show that to make β equal to zero:
• at zero and low forward velocity the rear wheels have to steer in opposite direction
compared to the front wheels.
• at high forward velocity the rear wheels should steer in the same direction as the
front wheels.
The sketches should include the tyre side slip angles, lateral tyre forces Fy, vehicle side
slip angle and front/rear steering angle.

e) Determine an expression for the gain K as a function of forward velocity, using the
results obtained under c) and the assumption that C1 =C2 and b=a.

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 Exam Vehicle Dynamics - 4L150, 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

4. Straight line braking

side view g
V
Ω1 ax Ω2

Mb1 front tyre h rear tyre Mb2

Fx1 Fx2
a1 a2

Fz1 l Fz2
A 2-dimensional model as shown in the picture will be used to analyse the problem.
Shown are the longitudinal acceleration ax and forces acting on the tyres (Fx and Fz)
according to the ISO sign conventions. Obviously during braking the longitudinal
acceleration ax and longitudinal tyre force Fx will be negative. In the revolute joint
between the wheel and chassis a braking moment Mb is applied (Mb1 and Mb2 for the front
and rear tyre respectively). The vehicle mass equals m, the moment of inertia of the wheels
may be ignored and the radius R of the front and rear tyre is the same.

a) Derive analytical expressions for the vertical force on the front and rear tyre (Fz1 and
Fz2) as a function of the acceleration ax. Check the result: during braking ax will be
negative and the vertical force on the front tyre will increase and the vertical force on
the rear tyre will decrease with respect to the static situation.

b) The longitudinal force Fx of the tyre is a nonlinear function of the slip ratio κ and
vertical load Fz. Make a sketch of the longitudinal force characteristic for three
different vertical forces and a slip ratio ranging from wheel lock ( κ = −1 ) to free
rolling ( κ = 0 ). Mark the different curves with: “low Fz”, “medium Fz” and “high Fz”.

c) Ideally both the front and rear tyres operate close to the peak in the longitudinal slip
characteristic. Assume that the peak friction coefficient between tyre and road equals
µ x , peak and may be considered constant. What is the relation between µ x , peak and
acceleration ax of the vehicle during braking?

d) Using the peak friction coefficient µ x , peak for both front and rear tyres, derive an
analytical expression for the optimal brake moment distribution p.
M b1
p=
M b1 + M b 2
(for example p = 0.7 would indicate that 70 % of the total brake moment is applied to
the front brakes and 30 % to the rear brakes) Hint: use the results of a) and c).

e) Suppose that the brake moment distribution p has been determined on a dry road
surface and stays fixed, what happens on a slippery road surface (low µ )? What about
the brake moment to be applied? Will the front or rear wheels lock-up first? Is it
possible to obtain the maximum deceleration as derived under c)? Give a short
explanation.

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 Exam Vehicle Dynamics (4L150), 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

Answers Exam Vehicle Dynamics (4L150)

14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

1. Multiple-choice questions
1) A
2) C
3) D
4) B
5) C
6) B
7) B
8)
9) C
10) A

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 Exam Vehicle Dynamics (4L150), 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

2. Brush model
a) As shown in the given figure, the deformation of the bristles is linear. So we write:
v  Ax  B
At x  0 , v  a tan  , so: B  a tan  .
At x  a , v  0 , so: Aa  a tan   0  A   tan 
Thus: v   x tan   a tan   tan   a  x 
Check: v  a   0 and v  a   2a tan 

b) The equation for the lateral force can be derived as follows:

a a a
Fy   q ( x)dx   c v  x  dx  c
a
y
a
py py tan    a  x  dx
a
a
 1   1   1 
 c py tan   ax  x 2    c py tan    a 2  a 2    a 2  a 2    2c py a 2 tan 
 2  a  2   2 

c) The equation for the self-aligning moment can be derived as follows:

a a a a
Mz   q y ( x) xdx   c pyv  x  xdx  c py tan    a  x  xdx  c py tan    ax  x  dx
2

a a a a
a
 1 1   1 1  1 1 
 c py tan   a x 2  x3    c py tan    a 3  a 3    a 3  a 3  
 2 3  a  2 3  2 3 
2
  c py a 3 tan 
3

 2c py a 2 1  tan 2  
dFy
d) Cornering stiffness: Cf   2c py a 2
d  0
 0

 c py a3 1  tan 2  
dM z 2 2
Self-aligning stiffness: Cm   c py a3
d  0 3  0 3

e) Magnitude of the pneumatic trail:

2
 c py a 3 tan 
Mz a
t  3 2 
Fy 2c py a tan  3

Remark: Answers for which tan  is linearised are also correct.

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 Exam Vehicle Dynamics (4L150), 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

3. Rear wheel steering

a) m  v  ur   Fy1  Fy 2 ; Ir  aFy1  bFy 2

1 1 v
b) 1  1   v  ar  ;  2   2   v  br  ;  
u u u

mV 2
c)  C1 1  C 2 2 ; 0  aC11  bC2 2 ,
R
a b
1   1    2  2   
R R

d)

mV 2 2a
e)   1   2   1  K 1  2  ; 0   1   2   1  K 1 
CR R

 0
mV 2
1
mV 2
2a mV (1  K ) 2
 (1  K ) 1  (1  K ) →  → K  2aC2
CR R(1  K ) 2aC (1  K ) mV
1
2aC

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 Exam Vehicle Dynamics (4L150), 14-11-2007, 9:00-12:00

4. Straight line braking

a) Fx  max  max  Fx1  Fx 2

Fz  0  Fz1  Fz 2  mg  0  Fz 2  mg  Fz1
M  0  a1Fz1  a2 Fz 2  max h  0

a1Fz1  a2  mg  Fz1   max h  0

a2 max h a2mg  max h
Fz1  mg  
a1  a2 a1  a2 l

a1  mg  Fz 2   a2 Fz 2  max h  0
a1 max h a1mg  max h
Fz 2  mg  
a1  a2 a1  a2 l

b)

c) max  Fx1  Fx 2  x, peak  Fz1  Fz 2 

max  x, peak mg  ax  x, peak g

M b1 Fx1R   x , peak Fz1 a mg  max h

d) p     2
M b1  M b 2 RFx1  RFx 2   x, peak  Fz1  Fz 2  lmg
a2 g  ax h a2 g   x , peak gh a2   x , peak h
p  
lg lg l

e) On low  x , peak , p to high => too much brake moment on the front axle => front
wheels will lock up first => not possible to obtain maximum deceleration.
 x  x, peak (over the peak); rear wheels have too little brake torque  x  x, peak
(below the peak). Also: before front wheel lock (  x   x, peak ), rear wheels have
too little brake torque.