Vehicle dynamics of a car with independent four wheel steering

J P Wideberg
School of Engineering, Transportation Engineering, University of Seville, Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, 41092 Sevilla, Spain,

Abstract: Current advances in the application of control systems to vehicle dynamics have begun to make it practicable to accomplish improvement to the vehicle's lateral and vertical dynamics. Examples are ESP (individual wheel braking) to preventing its loss of stability, and active suspension to increase ride comfort.. In this article the equations of motions for a vehicle with totally independent four wheel steering is presented. A procedure is proposed where the control system detects the forces of a wheel is about to saturate and acts accordingly to prevent this. The dynamic system is designed to give vehicles substantially enhanced active safety and dynamic handling control. Keywords: vehicle dynamics, four wheel steering, simulation, steer by wire, handling

NOTATION
fl fr rl rr

front left Front right Rear left Rear right Distance from the centre of gravity to the front axle (m) Distance from the centre of gravity to the rear axle (m) Distance between axles (m) Total mass of the vehicle (kg)

b c L m

mr mf vx vy

Mass (weight) on rear axle (kg) Mass (weight) on front axle (kg) Velocity in forward direction (m/s) Velocity in lateral direction (m/s) Yaw speed (rad/s) Float angle (rad) Body roll angle (rad) Pitch angle (rad) Youngs modulus (MPa) Slip angle of tire; i=f (front) or r (rear), j=l (left) or r (right) (rad) Cornering stiffness, front tire (kN/rad) Cornering stiffness, rear tire (kN/rad) Moment of inertia, i=x,y,z (mm4) Centrifugal force (N) Reaction force at tire (N), i=x,y,z; j=f, r; k=l, r Lateral acceleration (m/s2) Critical speed (m/s) weight transfer due to static equilibrium (N)

ij
C f

C r
Ii Fc Fijk ay vcrit Wstat

Wbrake weight transfer between axles when braking or accelerating (N) Wroll Wsusi Wusi lateral weight transfer from one side of the car to the other (N) The lateral weight transfer due to unsprung masses (N) The lateral weight transfer due to body roll (N)

Whsusi Lateral weight transfer due to the roll center height (N)

DOF Degree of freedom FEA Finite element analysis

MBS Multi body system SBW Steer By Wire SUV Sport Utility Vehicle

1 Background
Four Wheel Steering System and Steer by Wire
All early control and steering system was manoeuvred manually. For instance, the car brake mechanism was directly connected using a steel wire. The same system was used for an early road vehicles; a mechanical connection was provided between a steering wheel and a front wheel via steering column and a set of gears.

The manual system required force that had to be applied by the muscle power and new systems were developed, where the steering of an airplane or the front wheel of a vehicle was operated through hydraulic or electric driving mechanisms.

Since then, remarkable progresses have been made in aviation and the latest airplanes transmits a control stick movement to a computer in terms of electric signals and the computer, in turn, sends an electric command to a driving mechanism. This system is called Fly-by-Wire (FBW) system. The system used in the FBW system is a control bus (ECU).

Recently, the FBW system of the aviation industry has been transferred the automobile industries and has resulted in a Steer-by-Wire (SBW) system. The SBW system can operate a control system in order to keep the same turning state regardless of the disturbances. In conventional steering systems, disturbances such as vehicle speed variations, road surface conditions, air resistance and others result in the change in the vehicle turning speed with approximately the same wheel angle. By using steer-by-wire technology the question of a suitable interface to the human arises. As the

driver must not necessarily feel the forces exerted on the tires, new information about the vehicle dynamics can and must be transmitted. For instance the experienced driver feels a force relative to the rolling of the vehicle, and is warned that a dangerous situation is eminent. By introducing a sophisticated SBW system it is necessary of the controller to interfere. One of the principal questions is however; is it worth installing i.e. does the additional cost of installation cover the benefits obtained? Active suspension systems and active four-wheel steering does not seem to be feasible except for luxury cars, nevertheless this was the case for ABS or ESP not too long ago and now these systems are virtually standard in all new automobiles.

Four wheel steering

In 1832 Joseph Gibbs and William Chaplin [4] filed a Patent in England for a four wheel steering system. Unfortunately it did not work well due to the fact that the system did not have a common point of rotation and thus introducing a large amount of slip. Since than a great amount of patents and papers has been published regarding this subject. Noteworthy are the work of Nalecz [5], Ackermann [1] and Abe [2].

Four wheel steering provides added stability at higher speeds by steering the rear wheels in the same direction as the front wheels. This reduces the vehicle yaw required to accomplish a manoeuvre like for instance: lane change or elusive manoeuvres and even under adverse road conditions, thus stabilizing vehicle response. This, in turn, reduces the yaw velocity gain and increases yaw damping of the vehicle. The result is increased stability, reduced sway, and reduced driver corrective steering to external disturbances such as wind gusts, vehicles passing, and irregular road surfaces.

2 Introduction
A model will be presented that is intended for the engineer who wants to simulate the essential handling behaviour of an automobile without using MBS and without the particulars associated with component-level details (linkage geometry, etc.). Equations are going to be derived for the case of a four wheel vehicle with steering on both axles. All steering angles assumed to be independent. For example on one axle the left and the right angle are not the same nor are they related through the Ackermann angle. The point of this is to take advantage of the four wheel steering using steer-by-wire. As each wheel can have its individual steering actuator. The advantage is that if there is no mechanical connection between two wheels on one axle then the relation between the left-hand and right-hand angle can depend on the forward speed (Speed sensitive behaviour), it can be controlled by sophisticated control algorithms and it can be used as an integral part of the active security system of the car. It can also be used as driving assistance, to improve driving stability and for autonomous driving. Perhaps the most popular system to improve stability is the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) by Bosch. The principal goal of the ESP control system is to keep the vehicle as close as possible to the trajectory intended by the driver. Selective breaking of single wheels is used to achieve this. By using SBW a similar stabilizing effect can be achieved by changing the steer angle of a single wheel. This should be done at the wheel that is closest to be fully saturated, i.e. when the tire is about to skid.

3 Three Dimensional Vehicle model

In this paper the equations are expressed as scalar equations. It is desirable to express these without introducing the heading angle therefore vehicle fix coordinates are used,

otherwise an extra integration would be needed when solving (to keep track of heading angle). The road is considered to be flat hence the motion will be planar.

The governing dynamics equations can then be expressed as:

m(

dVx V y ) = Fxfl cos( fl ) + Fxfr cos( fr ) Fyfl sin( fl ) Fyfr sin( fr ) + dt + Fxrl cos( rl ) + Fxrr cos( rr ) + Fyrl sin( rl ) + Fyrr cos( rr )

(1.1)

m(

dV y dt

+ Vx ) = Fxfl sin( fl ) + Fxfr sin( fr ) + Fyfl cos( fl ) + Fyfr cos( fr ) + + Fyrl cos( rl ) + Fyrr cos( rr ) Fxrl sin( rl ) Fxrr sin( rr )

(1.2)

d I = Fxfl sin( fl )b + Fxfl cos( fl )t f + Fxfr sin( fr )b Fxfr cos( fr )t f + dt z + Fyfl cos( fl )b Fyfl sin( fl )t f + Fyfr cos( frr )b + Fyfr sin( fr )t f (1.3) Fyrl cos( rl )c Fyrr cos( rr )c + Fxrl sin( rl )c + Fxrr sin( rl )c + + Fyrl sin( rl )tr + Fxrr cos( rl )tr Fyrr sin( rr )tr Fxrr cos( rr )tr
. d 2 I x 2 = [(K + C + Fy h + m2 gh + tr Fzrl + t f Fzfl ) + tr Fzrr + t f Fzfr ] (1.4) dt . d 2 I y 2 = [(K + C + m2 gh + m2 ax h + cFzrr + cFzrl ) + bFzfr + bFzfl ] (1.5) dt

d = dt dX =Vx cos - Vy sin dt dY =Vy cos + Vx sin dt

(1.6)

(1.7)

(1.8)

where equations (1.1) to (1.5) are the governing equations of the vehicle dynamics. The standard simplification of small angles is not considered because a closed solution is not necessary and the equations are easy to solve numerically. The three following equations (1.6)-(1.8) are needed to find out the global heading angle and the global coordinates X and Y.

3.1 Slip angles

The tire model presented needs the slip angle as input. The slip angles are defined as follows:

tan( fl - fl )= tan( rl - rl )=

Vy +b Vx + t f Vy -c
(1.9)

Vx + tr V +b tan( fr - fr )= y Vx t f tan( rr - rr )= Vy -c Vx tr

(1.10)

3.2 Vertical Loads

The normal reaction under each tire can be calculated using the Equation(1.11). It is divided in three parts: Wstat which is a pure static equilibrium, Wbrake which is the amount of weight transfer from one axle to another when braking or accelerating and Wroll which is the lateral weight transfer from one side of the car to the other.

Fzi = Wstat + Wbrake + Wroll

(1.11)

mgc + Wbrake + Wrollf 2L mgc Fzfr = + Wbrake Wrollf 2L mgb Fzrl = + Wbrake + Wrollr 2L mgc Fzrr = + Wbrake Wrollr 2L Fzfl =
where

(1.12)

Wbrake =
and

msusp ax h 2L

musf ax husf 2L

musr ax husr 2L

(1.13)

Wrolli = Wsusi + Wusi + Whsusi

i

(1.14)

stands for either r or f and where Wsusi, Wusi and Whsusi are defined below.:

The lateral weight transfer due to unsprung masses is calculated as:

Wusf = musf V y + Vx Wusr = musr

) 2t

husf
f

h V y + Vx usr 2tr

(1.15)

The lateral weight transfer due to body roll can be expressed as: Kf Wsusf = msusp V y + Vx h1 cos 2t f K

2tr K Lateral weight transfer due to the roll center height is expressed as:

Wsusr = msusp V y + Vx h1 cos

Kr

(1.16)

Whsusf = msusp V y + Vx Whsusr = msusp

) 2Lt )

ch f
f

bhr V y + Vx 2Ltr

(1.17)


3.3 Tire model

The elastic deformation of a tire is extremely complex due to the non-linearity and theoretical computation requires numerical solution with for instance FEA. There are several nonlinear tire models available, e.g. the CALSPAN tire model, the brush model or the UMTRI model. However, industry and academia have reached apparent consensus in recent years on the use of magic formula, developed by Pacejka et.al, [Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.] which summarizes experimental and theoretical data. It allows one to compute forces at a higher precision than the common linearized assumption, but without integrating equations. The tire model allows determination of all six of the forces and moments generated by the tire: longitudinal force, lateral force, vertical force, rolling resistance, overturning moment and self-aligning torque. Therefore, forces can be computed in real-time. A pneumatic tire usually have a peak at about 4 to 6 degrees of slip where the cornering force decreases as slip increases on either side of the peak. Past this peak, the vehicle will experience dynamic understeer, where turning the wheel more makes the cornering conditions worse.

y ( x) = sin C arctan ( Bx E ( Bx arctan Bx ) )

(1.18) (1.19)

Y ( X ) = y ( x) + Sv x = X + Sh

The factor B is called the stiffness factor and it controls the slope of the curve at the origin. The parameter C is called the shape factor and limits the range of the arguments in the sinus function The parameter D is the maximum value the force or moment apart from the small

effect due to the Sv term. The product BCD gives the slope and corresponds to the initial cornering stiffness. Sv and Sh are the horizontal and vertical shift, respectively. They are introduced to allow for non-zero forces and moments at zero slip. (See Wong [Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.] for details).

4 Control law
Many control laws can be implemented in order to minimize for instance the body roll or to prevent over/under steer. There is a wealth of such control laws published in recent years notable are the works of Abe [2] and Horiuchi [6]. The latter defines the control law as:

where

r = k r + k
k = kr = Kf Kr 2 K rVy

(1.20)

mVy2 + 2(bK f cK r ) t

(1.21)

This law is easy implemented in the model used. The equations presented in this article are not in a closed form nor are they linearlized. That is not necessary because of the tools used to resolve the equations. The model is done using MATLAB/ SIMULINK. Figure 2 shows the SIMULINK interface with all the equations represented. This chart is difficult to assimilate therefore in Figure 3 a simplified chart is presented. It is a schematic and simplified picture to show more clearly how the different parts are related.

An alternative algorithm is also evaluated. It is based upon the control scheme by Horiuchi [6] but also monitors the forces on each wheel and if it is about to saturate then that

individual wheel changes the steering angle a certain amount so that the tires do not saturate. To do this a variable is introduces defined as:

Bzij =

Fzij 2F 1+ zij mg
3

(1.22)

which is compared to the normal force of each tire, if the absolute value of this variable is greater or equal to the normal force then no action is taken. On the contrary if the absolute value of this variable is less than the normal force then the steering angle is changed according to the equation (1.24) below. The steering angle, for the tire ij, is then changed back to the original after two revolutions of the tire.

Bzij Fyij ij (t ) = ij (t 1)
3 Bzij < Fyij ij (t ) = ij (t 1) 5

(1.23) (1.24)

i=front or rear, j=left or right.

The novelty of this approach is that a single wheel can be steered independently of the rest of the tires. For instance, if the vehicle travels in a curve to the right and accelerates at the same time then weight will be transferred to the rear left. The lateral force, in an extreme situation, may be close to saturating and thus staring to skid. Modifying that tire in such away that the slip angle decreases would be a way to prevent the vehicle to skid and consequently preventing it to become uncontrollable.

5 Results and Conclusion

The system varies the steer angle on the wheel with the highest loading between 0 and 1 degrees if the tire forces is about to saturate which depends on the road situation. If there is a risk of skidding, the steer angle on one individual wheel is decreased by an appropriate degree. It provides in the order of 10 to 25 percent more lateral stability than a conventional system with 4WS. This significantly enhances active safety, since better lateral stability equals superior road adhesion and better cornering stability. An example simulation is made and the results are presented in Figure 4 to Figure 7. In Figure 4 it can clearly be seen that the lateral acceleration decreases each time the control systems modifies the steering angle. This can be on any single tire or on several it depend if the condition (Equation (1.23) or (1.24) ) is satisfied or not. The effect is more notable in the lateral velocity which is noticeably diminished (Figure 6). This effect is also depicted in Figure 5. It is very interesting to plot the yaw rate versus the float angle (see in Figure 1 ) of the vehicle such as in Figure 7. Here it can be clearly seen that both the yaw velocity and the float angle has improved. Particularly the float angle, which leads to more exact handling and the ability to stay on track.

References
1. Ackermann, J. (1994) Robust Decoupling, Ideal Steering Dynamics and Yaw Stabilization of 4WS Cars, Automatica, Vol.30, No.11. 2. Abe, M. (1995) Direct Yaw Moment Control for Improving Limit Performance of Vehicle Handling - Comparison and Cooperation with 4WS 14th IAVSD Symposium. 3. Sakai S., Sado H, and Hori Y., Motion Control in an Electric Vehicle with 4 Independently Driven In-Wheel Motors IEEE Trans. on Mechatronics, Vol. 4, No.1, pp.9-16, 1999. 4. Gibbs, J. and Chaplin, W. (1832) GB-patent 6241 from March 8th. 5. Nalecz, A.G. and Bindemann, A.C. (1989) Handling Properties of Four Wheel Steering Vehicles SAE Special Publications, No. 890080. 6. Horiuchi, S. and Okada, K. (1999) Improvement of a vehicle handling by nonlinear integrated control of four wheel steering and four wheel torque, JSAE Review Vol. 20, pp. 459-464.

tf
fl
fr fl

fr

yfl

Vx
xfl

Fy

fr

Fx

fr

rl

Vy
rl

rr rr

Fyrl
Fxrl

Fyr

tr

Figure 1: Vehicle model

Fxr

Figure 2: Simulink flowchart representing the 4WS dynamics simulation

Steering input

Slip angles

Vertical loads

Magic formula tire model

Control system

Vehicle model dynamics equations Feedback to control system

Output

Figure 3: Data flow of the vehicle dynamics algorithm

Figure 4: Lateral acceleration vs. time

Figure 5: Trajectories of the different control laws.

Figure 6: Lateral velocity vs. time

Figure 7: Yaw velocity vs. slip angle