The single track model

Dr. M. Gerdts

Universität Bayreuth, SS 2003

Contents

1 Single track model 1

1.1 Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Computation of slip angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Longitudinal tyre forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Lateral tyre forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.5 Air resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.6 Equations of motion I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.7 Equations of motion II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.8 Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.9 Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

i
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1 Single track model

1.1 Geometry

lv

lh eSP
αv vv

δ
v FLx






α



Fsv

ψ
FLy
Fuv
αh
vh

Fuh
Fsh

Notation:

vv , vh velocity front/rear wheel

δ steering angle
v velocity
αv , αh slip angle front/rear wheel
β side slip angle
ψ yaw angle
Fsv , Fsh lateral tyre forces
Fuv , Fuh longitudinal tyre forces
lv , lh distance from center of gravity to front/rear wheel
eSP distance from center of gravity to drag mount point
FLx , FLy air resistance in longitudinal and lateral direction
m mass of car
The steering angle δ is related to the steering wheel angle δw by δw = iL · δ.
2 1 SINGLE TRACK MODEL

1.2 Computation of slip angles

The slip angles are given by
!
lv ψ̇ − v sin β
αv = δ − arctan ,
v cos β
!
lh ψ̇ + v sin β
αh = arctan .
v cos β

Explanation: Since the car body does not expand or shrink, the velocity components in
the longitudinal direction of the car body have to be equal:

v cos β = vh cos αh
= vv cos(δ − αv ).

In the lateral direction the difference between the velocities is given by the yaw angle
velocity:

vh sin αh = lh ψ̇ + v sin β,
vv sin(δ − αv ) = lv ψ̇ − v sin β.

Combining these four equations yield the above formulas for the respective slip angles.

1.3 Longitudinal tyre forces

The car has rear wheel drive.
The driver controls the braking force FB ≥ 0, the gear i ∈ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and the accelerator
pedal position φ. The latter will result in the torque

Mwheel (φ, i) = ig (i) · it · Mmot (φ, i),

where
Mmot (φ, i) = f1 (φ) · f2 (wmot (i)) + (1 − f1 (φ))f3 (wmot (i))

denotes the motor torque and

v · ig (i) · it 1
wmot (i) = ·
R 1−S
denotes the rotary frequency of the motor depending on the gear i and the longitudinal
slip S. For convenience, the slip is neglected, e.g. S = 0.
If the slip is not neglected, it is defined by

v
 1− R·ϕ̇
, if v ≤ R · ϕ̇,
S= R·ϕ̇
 1− , otherwise
v
1.3 Longitudinal tyre forces 3

ϕ̇ denotes the rotary frequency of the wheel and is given by the differential equation

IR · ϕ̈ = Fuh · R.

The functions f1 , f2 and f3 are given by

f1 (φ) = 1 − exp(−3φ),
2
f2 (wmot ) = −37.8 + 1.54 · wmot − 0.0019 · wmot ,
f3 (wmot ) = −34.9 − 0.04775 · wmot .

braking force:
The braking force is distributed on the front and rear wheels by the formulas
2 1
FBv = FB , FBh = FB
3 3
such that FBv + FBh = FB holds.

rolling resistance:
The rolling resistance force at the front and rear wheel, respectively, is given by

FRv = fR (v) · Fzv ,

FRh = fR (v) · Fzh

where 4
v v

fR (v) = fR0 + fR1 + fR4 (v in [km/h]),
100 100
is the friction coefficient and
m · lh · g
Fzv = ,
lv + lh
m · lv · g
Fzh =
lv + lh
denote the static tyre loads at the front and rear wheel, respectively.

longitudinal force front wheel:

Fuv = −FBv − FRv .

longitudinal force rear wheel:

Mwheel (φ, i)
Fuh = − FBh − FRh
R
4 1 SINGLE TRACK MODEL

1.4 Lateral tyre forces

The lateral tyre forces are functions of the respective slip angles (and the tyre loads, which
are constant in our model). A simple model is the AT-model (arcustangens-model):

Fsv = cAT 1 arctan(cAT 2 · αv ),

Fsh = cAT 1 arctan(cAT 2 · αh ).

A famous model is the ‘magic formula’ of Pacejka:

Fsv = Dv sin (Cv arctan (Bv αv − Ev (Bv αv − arctan(Bv αv )))) ,

Fsh = Dh sin (Ch arctan (Bh αh − Eh (Bh αh − arctan(Bh αh )))) .

The slope of Fsv at αv = 0 is given by Bv · Cv · Dv and similar for Fsh .

1.5 Air resistance

1
FLx = · cw · ρ · A · v 2 ,
2
1
FLy = · cy · ρ · A · vR2
2

Notation:

cw air drag coefficient

ρ air density
A effective flow surface
v velocity
cy lateral air drag coefficient
vR lateral air velocity

1.6 Equations of motion I

ẋ = v cos(ψ − β),
ẏ = v sin(ψ − β),
1
v̇ = [(Fuh − FLx ) cos β + Fuv cos(δ + β) − (Fsh − FLy ) sin β − Fsv sin(δ + β)] ,
m
1
β̇ = wz − [(Fuh − FLx ) sin β + Fuv sin(δ + β) + (Fsh − FLy ) cos β + Fsv cos(δ + β)] ,
m·v
ψ̇ = wz ,
1
ẇz = [Fsv · lv · cos δ − Fsh · lh − FLy · eSP + Fuv · lv · sin δ]
Izz
1.7 Equations of motion II 5

1.7 Equations of motion II

1
ẍ = [(Fuh − FLx + Fuv cos δ − Fsv sin δ) cos ψ − (Fsh − FLy + Fuv sin δ + Fsv cos δ) sin ψ]
m
1
= [(Fuh − FLx ) cos ψ + Fuv cos(δ + ψ) − Fsv sin(δ + ψ) − (Fsh − FLy ) sin ψ]
m
1
ÿ = [(Fuh − FLx + Fuv cos δ − Fsv sin δ) sin ψ + (Fsh − FLy + Fuv sin δ + Fsv cos δ) cos ψ]
m
1
= [(Fuh − FLx ) sin ψ + Fuv sin(δ + ψ) + Fsv cos(δ + ψ) + (Fsh − FLy ) cos ψ]
m
1
ψ̈ = [Fsv · lv · cos δ − Fsh · lh − FLy · eSP + Fuv · lv · sin δ]
Izz

side slip angle:

ẏ
 
β = ψ − arctan
ẋ
absolute velocity:
q
v= ẋ2 + ẏ 2

1.8 Constraints
The steering angle is restricted by

|δ| ≤ 0.5263 [rad].

The steering angle velocity is restricted by

|δ̇| ≤ 0.5 [rad/s].

The braking force FB is restricted by

0 ≤ FB ≤ 15000 [N ].

The accelerator pedal position φ is restricted by

0 ≤ φ ≤ 1.

1.9 Parameters

Car:
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m 1239 [kg] car mass

g 9.81 [m/s2 ] acceleration due to gravity
lv 1.19016 [m] distance from center of gravity to front wheel
lh 1.37484 [m] distance from center of gravity to rear wheel
eSP 0.5 [m] distance from center of gravity to drag mount point
R 0.302 [m] wheel radius
Izz 1752 [kgm2 ] moment of inertia
iL 21.1 steering wheel transmission
IR 1.5 moment of inertia of wheel

Drag:

cw 0.3 air drag coefficient

ρ 1.249512 [N/m2 ] air density
A 1.4378946874 [m2 ] effective flow surface
cy 0.3 lateral air drag coefficient

Gear shift:

ig (1) 3.91 first gear

ig (2) 2.002 second gear
ig (3) 1.33 third gear
ig (4) 1.0 fourth gear
ig (5) 0.805 fifth gear
it 3.91 motor torque transmission

Tyre: AT-model

cAT 1v 3317.99 tyre coefficient AT-model

cAT 1h 2872.29 tyre coefficient AT-model
cAT 2v 30.0 tyre coefficient AT-model
cAT 2h 30.0 tyre coefficient AT-model

Tyre: Pacejka-model
1.9 Parameters 7

Bv 10.96 tyre coefficient Pacejka-model (stiffness factor)

Cv 1.3 tyre coefficient Pacejka-model (shape factor)
Dv 4560.40 tyre coefficient Pacejka-model (peak value)
Ev −0.5 tyre coefficient Pacejka-model (curvature factor)
Bh 12.67 tyre coefficient Pacejka-model (stiffness factor)
Ch 1.3 tyre coefficient Pacejka-model (shape factor)
Dh 3947.81 tyre coefficient Pacejka-model (peak value)
Eh −0.5 tyre coefficient Pacejka-model (curvature factor)

Rolling resistance:

fR0 0.009 coefficient

fR1 0.002 coefficient
fR4 0.0003 coefficient