In 2004, students at the University of Guelph designed and constructed an all-wheel-drive Formula SAE vehicle for competition. It utilized an electronically-controlled, hydraulic-actuated limited slip center coupling from Haldex Traction Ltd, to transfer torque to the front wheels. The initial control system design was not comprehensively conceived, so there was a need for a thoroughly developed control system for the all-wheel-drive actuator augmented with commonly available sensors and a low cost controller. This thesis presents a novel all-wheel-drive active torque transfer controller using a neural network estimated slip angle velocity. This controller specifically targets a racing vehicle by allowing rapid direction changes for maneuverability but damping slip angle changes for increased controllability. The slip angle velocity estimate was able to track the actual simulated value it was trained against with excellent phase matching but with some offsets and phantom spikes. Using the estimated slip angle velocity for control realized smooth control output, excellent stability, and a fast turn-in yaw response on par with rear-wheel-drive configurations. A full vehicle simulation with software-in-the-loop testing for control software was also developed to aid the system design process and avoid vehicle run time for tuning. This design flow should significantly decrease development time for controls algorithm work and help increase innovation within the team.

La suspension joue un rôle central pour la dynamique verticale d’un véhicule automobile afin d’améliorer le confort des passagers et la tenue de route. Les travaux de recherche de cette thèse sont divisés en deux grandes parties. La première partie considère le problème de commande d’une suspension semi-active dont le défi principal est de prendre en compte les contraintes de dissipativité et de débattement maximum des amortisseurs. Celles-ci sont transformées en des contraintes sur la commande et l’état d‘un système linéaire. Deux approches sont alors proposées pour la synthèse de la commande de la suspension semi-active : la commande Linéaire à Paramètres Variants (LPV) avec prise en compte de la saturation et la Commande Prédictive à base de Modèle (MPC).La deuxième partie est consacrée à l’estimation de défaut actionneur et à la commande Tolérante à ce type de défauts, avec comme application majeure le système de suspension semi-active. On considère ici comme défaut une perte de puissance de l’amortisseur (par exemple une fuite de l’huile), qui est estimée en utilisant plusieurs approches fondées sur des observateurs d’état. Puis, en fonction de l’estimation du défaut, la commande en boucle fermée est reconfigurée afin de conserver des performances pour la dynamique verticale du véhicule. / Semi-active suspension system plays a key role in enhancing comfort and road holding of vertical dynamics in automotive vehicles. This PhD thesis research work, focused on that topic, is divided into two main parts. The first one considers the semi-active suspension control problem, the main challenge of which being to handle the dissipativity constraint and suspensions stroke limitation of semi-active dampers. These constraints are recast into input and state constraints in a linear state space representation. Thereby, the semi-active suspension control is designed in the framework of Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) approach with input constraints, and of Model Predictive Control (MPC) approach.The second part is devoted to Fault Estimation and Fault Tolerant Control (FTC) in case of actuator fault, and its application to Semi-Active suspension systems. The fault considered here is the loss of actuator's efficiency (due to an oil leakage of the damper for instance when a ), which is estimated using several observer-based approaches. Then, thanks to the fault information from the estimation step, an LPV/FTC fault scheduling control is designed to limit the vehicle performance deterioration.

Les véhicules modernes sont de plus en plus équipés de nouveaux organes visant à améliorer la sécurité des occupants. Ces nouveaux systèmes sont souvent des organes actifs utilisant des données de capteurs sur le véhicule. Cependant, en cas de mauvais fonctionnement d'un capteur, les conséquences pour le véhicule peuvent être dramatiques. Afin de garantir la sécurité dans le véhicule, des nouvelles méthodologies de détections de défauts adaptées pour les véhicules sont proposées. Les méthodologies présentées sont étendues de la méthode de l'espace de parité pour les systèmes à paramètres variant (LPV). En outre, la transformation du problème de détection de défauts pour la détection de situations critiques est également proposée. Des résultats applicatifs réalisés sur un véhicule réel dans le cadre du projet INOVE illustrent les performances des détections de défauts et la détection de perte de stabilité du véhicule. / Modern vehicles are increasingly equipped with new mechanisms to improve occupant safety. These new systems are often active parts using data from sensors on the vehicle. However, in case of malfunction of a sensor, the consequences for the vehicle can be dramatic. To ensure safety in the vehicle, new methodologies for detection of faults suitable for vehicles are proposed. The developed methodologies are extended from the method of parity space for linear parameter varying systems (LPV). In addition, the transformation of fault detection problem for the detection of critical situations is also available. Application of results achieved on a real vehicle within the INOVE project illustrate the performance of fault detection and detection of loss of stability of the vehicle.

Este trabalho apresenta o estudo da dinâmica vertical de um veículo off-road de competição e do comportamento elastocinemático de suas suspensões primárias de duplo estágio com o auxílio da ferramenta computacional de simulação de sistemas multicorpos MSC-ADAMS. O modelo multicorpos do veículo inclui os modelos da suspensão dianteira, suspensão traseira, sistema de direção, pneus e massa suspensa. As análises elastocinemáticas das suspensões definiram geometrias que permitem longos cursos de trabalho das suspensões sem variações indesejadas de parâmetros de projeto. Com a análise modal do modelo de veículo completo foram definidos os valores de rigidez das molas das suspensões de duplo estágio que resultaram em valores de freqüência natural no primeiro estágio semelhantes aos indicados para carros de passeio e no segundo estágio, próximos dos encontrados em veículos de competição. A análise de conforto do veículo durante simulação de passagem por trecho de pista demonstrou que os elementos de força definidos na análise modal resultam em níveis de conforto raramente encontrados em veículos de competição. / This dissertation presents the study of a off-road competition vehicle ride and the double rate suspensions elastokinematic behavior using the multibody software MSC-ADAMS. The vehicle multibody model includes the rear and front suspensions, the steering system, the tires and the sprung mass. The suspensions elastokinematic analysis defined geometric configurations that allowed long jounce and rebound travel of wheel, without undesirable project parameters variations. In the modal analysis of the vehicle multibody model, the springs rates that results in natural frequencies values similar to passenger cars for the first suspension stage and, for the second stage, similar to competition vehicles, were defined. The ride analysis during the simulation of the vehicle running on a rough track showed that the force elements defined on the modal analysis resulted in a good ride quality, rarely found in competition vehicles.

A aplicação do método de elementos finitos como ferramenta de análise vem crescendo na indústria ao longo dos anos, sendo que uma das áreas em desenvolvimento corresponde ao estudo de impacto e avaliação de resistência ao choque. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar a eficiência da defensa metálica maleável simples utilizada nas rodovias do Brasil, no que diz respeito à capacidade de conter um veículo desgovernado de 2000 quilogramas a 100 quilômetros por hora, através da simulação numérica pelo método dos elementos finitos. Para possibilitar a execução das análises, são realizados ensaios experimentais de corpos de prova retirados de um dos componentes da defensa metálica para a caracterização do material. Além disso, são desenvolvidas simplificações no modelo para permitir a realização de análises com baixo custo computacional. A partir do modelo elaborado, são avaliados os comportamentos de impacto na defensa metálica maleável simples em diversas condições de instalação encontradas em vias brasileiras com grande volume de veículos, incluindo-se condições inadequadas. As avaliações indicam que a defensa é incapaz de reter o veículo, ocorrendo o rompimento dos parafusos que unem as lâminas. As defensas em condições irregulares de manutenção apresentam resultados mais catastróficos, colocando mais risco aos ocupantes e pedestres. Por fim, é recomendada a elevação da classe do parafuso para 5.8, permitindo que a defensa retenha o veículo do teste 3-11 do NCHRP Report 350. / The application of Finite Element Method as an analysis tool in industry has been increasing over the years, so that one of the development areas corresponds to the study of impact and crashworthiness. The objective of this work is to assess the efficiency of a guardrail model used on Brazilian roads, with respect to the ability of containing a runaway vehicle of 2 ton at 100 miles per hour, through numerical simulation using finite element analysis. Experimental tests of samples taken from a component of the guardrail are performed to enable material characterization for the analysis. Furthermore, model simplifications are developed to permit the analysis with low computational cost. The impact behaviors are evaluated in various guardrail installation conditions found on high movement roads, including some inadequate ones. The analysis show that the guardrail is unable to retain the vehicle, shearing the W-beam splice bolts. The irregular maintenance condition guardrails present more catastrophic results, endangering even more the occupants and the pedestrians. Finally, it is recommended that the bolts are upgraded to 5.8, enabling the vehicle retention under test 3-11 of NCHRP Report 350.

O escopo do trabalho é a modelagem de um coxim elastomérico de motor, elemento que possui papel fundamental no isolamento vibracional do conjunto motor e transmissão. O estudo do comportamento mecânico de materiais elastoméricos é um campo que é desenvolvido a muitos anos devida complexidade e não-linearidade desses componentes; e modelos matemáticos fiéis são diferenciais competitivos. Assim essa dissertação tem como objetivo principal propor a modelagem de um coxim de motor elastomérico utilizando a técnica de redes neurais para generalizar a função de transferência entre o deslocamento do coxim e a aceleração vertical de motor. Duas abordagens de treinamento - dados experimentais coletados em bancada hidráulica uniaxial e dados experimentais coletados em campo - são apresentadas com o intuito de identificar a condição que a rede neural apresenta melhor performance de generalização. Para tal comparação uma métrica baseada em área da densidade espectral de potência é apresentada para quantificar o desempenho do modelo na faixa de frequência estudada (0-40 Hz). Finalmente é realizada uma comparação com um modelo mecânico composto por molas e amortecedores combinados. Os resultados demonstram que tanto o treinamento realizado com dados de bancada quanto o modelo mecânico apresentam boa correlação de 0 Hz a 14 Hz enquanto o treinamento realizado com dados de campo tem boa correlação de 0 Hz a 14 Hz e de 23 Hz a 40 Hz uma vez que essa abordagem tem capacidade de capturar a histerese e parte da não linearidade da borracha. É demonstrado que na faixa de frequência na qual todos modelos não foram capazes de generalizar existe modo de vibrar onde um nó no coxim estudado que dificulta a modelagem. Conclui-se que a técnica de redes neurais possui grande potencial em sua utilização, apresentando resultados bastante satisfatórios, além de outras vantagens, como a velocidade de processamento da rede treinada. / This dissertation scope is the modeling of an elastomeric mount, element which has primordial role on powertrain vibration isolation. The study of the mechanic behavior of those elastomeric materials is a field being studied for several years agor since its complexity and non-linarity of those components; and a reliable math models are competitive edge. So this dissertation has as main object purpose the modeling of an elastomeric engine mount using neural networks technician to predict the transfer function between the mount displacement and engine vertical accelerationTwo training approachs experimental data gathered in a uniaxial hydraulic bench and experimental data gathered in field are presented with the objective of identify the condition which the neural network presents better prediction performance. So this comparison being made a metric based on power density spectral area is presented to quantify the performance on the frequency range studied (0-40 Hz). Finally a comparison is made with a mechanical model composed per springs and dumpers combined. The results show that even the training made with the bench data and the mechnical model present good correlation from 0 Hz to 14 Hz while the training made with field data has good correlation from 0 Hz to 14 Hz and 23 Hz to 40 Hz once this approach has the ability to capture the hysteresis and part of rubber non-linearity. It is demonstrated that the frequency range where all the models are not capable to predict, there is a vibration mode where there is a node on the studied mount which dificults the modeling. The conclusion is that the neural network technique has great potential on its usage, presenting very satisfactory results, among other vantages as the processing speed after the network is trained.

O comportamento da dinâmica lateral de veículos automotivos com esterçamento nas quatro rodas é estudado com o auxílio de uma ferramenta computacional de modelagem e simulação de sistemas multicorpos. São utilizadas duas estratégias de controle do esterçamento das rodas traseiras para a avaliação de suas principais características. Uma das estratégias esterça as rodas traseiras em função do ângulo de esterçamento do volante, e a outra esterça as rodas traseiras em função do ângulo de esterçamento do volante e da velocidade longitudinal do veículo. O teste utilizado para as análises é a entrada degrau de esterçamento, onde é avaliada a resposta transitória e de regime da aceleração lateral, da velocidade de guinada e do ângulo de rolagem dos veículos. Os resultados das simulações mostram que os veículos com esterçamento nas quatro rodas têm o tempo de resposta da velocidade de guinada maior, e da aceleração lateral e do ângulo de rolagem menores que o veículo convencional. Também apresentam uma diminuição no ganho da aceleração lateral, da velocidade de guinada e do ângulo de rolagem. Além disso apresentam uma característica subesterçante mais acentuada. Essas características são mais evidentes no veículo com estratégia de controle função do esterçamento do volante. Os resultados obtidos correspondem ao comportamento dos veículos com esterçamento nas quatro rodas apresentado na literatura. / The lateral dynamic behavior of the automotive vehicles is studied with the aid of a computational tool for multibody systems modeling and simulation. Two rear wheel steering control strategies are used for evaluation of the main four wheel steering characteristics. One strategy steer the rear wheels as a function of the steering wheel angle, and the other one, steer the rear wheels as a function of the steering wheel angle and the speed. The steer step input is the test used, where the lateral acceleration, the yaw rate and the roll angle transient and stead state response are evaluated. The simulation results show that the four wheel steering vehicles have a slower yaw rate time response, and a fast lateral acceleration and roll angle time response than the conventional vehicle. Also four wheel vehicles show a reduction in lateral acceleration, yaw rate a.nd roll angle gain. Moreover they are more understeer than the conventional vehicle. These characteristics are particularly more evident on the vehicle with steer dependent system. The obtained results correspond with four wheel steering vehicles behavior founded in literature.

Apresenta um modelo multicorpos completo de um veículo comercial leve considerando a flexibilidade do quadro para estudos de dirigibilidade. O modelo de multicorpos foi desenvolvido utilizando o software MSC.ADAMS e inclui a suspensão primária, a cabine, o sistema de esterçamento, o trem de força, o modelo do pneu e um quadro flexível. O comportamento direcional, a dirigibilidade e a interação veículo/pavimento são os fatores que definem o desempenho do veículo em relação à dinâmica lateral. Os parâmetros mais importantes considerando o comportamento lateral do veículo são: a velocidade longitudinal, a rigidez em curva do pneu, a elasticidade da suspensão e do sistema de esterçamento, a transferência lateral de carga, centro de rolamento e propriedades inerciais. Conseqüentemente, considerando a transferência lateral de carga, o uso do quadro flexível se mostra importante. O modelo completo foi validado com resultados experimentais. Típicas manobras para estudo de dirigibilidade foram simuladas, entre elas: curva de raio e velocidade constantes e manobras de dupla mudança de pista. Os resultados obtidos foram a aceleração lateral, a velocidade de guinada, o ângulo de deriva da trajetória, o ângulo de rolamento e o gradiente de esterçamento. Com a análise dos resultados, o veículo mostrou comportamentos diferentes em função da aceleração lateral. Em baixas acelerações laterais, o veículo apresenta um comportamento levemente sub-esterçante. Contudo, em acelerações laterais altas, o veículo se torna sobre-esterçante. Finalmente, uma análise no domínio da freqüência foi realizada e ambos modelos mostraram as mesmas características. / This dissertation presents a complete multibody model of a light commercial truck considering the frame flexibility for handling characteristics studies. The flexible multibody model was developed using MSC.ADAMS, and it includes a complete primary suspension, the cabin, the steering system, the powertrain, a tire model (Delft) and the flexible frame. The directional response behavior, the driveability and the vehicle/road interaction are the factors that define vehicle handling performance. The most important parameters concerning lateral behavior are: longitudinal velocity, tire cornering stiffness, suspension system elasticity, steering systems elasticity, lateral load transfer, roll center and inertial properties. Consequently, regarding lateral load transfer, the use of a flexible frame is very important. The complete model was validated with experimental results and for the purpose of vehicle analyses, typical standard handling maneuvers were undertaken including constant radius turn, constant velocity turn and double lane change. The results obtained were lateral acceleration, yaw rate, side slip angle, roll angle and the understeer gradient. Analyzing the results, the vehicle showed a changing behavior concerning steer. At low velocities and lateral accelerations, the vehicle is slightly understeer. However, at higher velocities and lateral accelerations, it becomes oversteer. Finally, a frequency domain analysis was undertaken using the simplified and the complete model and both models shown the same characteristics.

Le développement des systèmes intelligents pour contrôler la stabilité du véhicule et éviter les accidents routier est au cœur de la recherche automobile. L'expansion de ces systèmes intelligents à l'application réelle exige une estimation précise de la dynamique du véhicule dans des environnements diverses (dévers et pente). Cette exigence implique principalement trois problèmes : ⅰ), extraire des informations non mesurées à partir des capteurs faible coût; ⅱ), rester robuste et précis face aux les perturbations incertaines causées par les erreurs de mesure ou de la méconnaissance de l'environnement; ⅲ), estimer l'état du véhicule et prévoir le risque d'accident en temps réel. L’originalité de cette thèse par rapport à l’existant, consiste dans le développement des nouveaux algorithmes, basés sur des nouveaux modèles du véhicule et des différentes techniques d'observation d'état, pour estimer des variables ou des paramètres incertains de la dynamique du véhicule en temps réel. La première étape de notre étude est le développement de nouveaux modèles pour mieux décrire le comportement du véhicule dans des différentes situations. Pour minimiser les erreurs de modèle, un système d'estimation composé de quatre observateurs est proposé pour estimer les forces verticales, longitudinales et latérales par pneu, ainsi que l'angle de dérive. Trois techniques d'observation non linéaires (EKF, UKF et PF) sont appliquées pour tenir compte des non-linéarités du modèle. Pour valider la performance de nos observateurs, nous avons implémenté en C++ des modules temps-réel qui, embarqué sur le véhicule, estiment la dynamique du véhicule pendant le mouvement. / Enhancing road safety by developing active safety system is the general purpose of this thesis. A challenging task in the development of active safety system is to get accurate information about immeasurable vehicle dynamics states. More specifically, we need to estimate the vertical load, the lateral frictional force and longitudinal frictional force at each wheel, and also the sideslip angle at center of gravity. These states are the key parameters that could optimize the control of vehicle's stability. The estimation of vertical load at each tire enables the evaluation of the risk of rollover. Estimation of tire lateral forces could help the control system reduce the lateral slip and prevent the situation like spinning and drift out. Tire longitudinal forces can also greatly influence the performance of vehicle. The sideslip angle is one of the most important parameter to control the lateral dynamics of vehicle. However, in the current market, very few safety systems are based on tire forces, due to the lack of cost-effective method to get these information. For all the above reasons, we would like to develop a perception system to monitor these vehicle dynamics states by using only low-cost sensor. In order to achieve this objective, we propose to develop novel observers to estimate unmeasured states. However, construction of an observer which could provide satisfactory performance at all condition is never simple. It requires : 1, accurate and efficient models; 2, a robust estimation algorithm; 3, considering the parameter variation and sensor errors. As motivated by these requirements, this dissertation is organized to present our contribution in three aspects : vehicle dynamics modelization, observer design and adaptive estimation. In the aspect of modeling, we propose several new models to describe vehicle dynamics. The existent models are obtained by simplifying the vehicle motion as a planar motion. In the proposed models, we described the vehicle motion as a 3D motion and considered the effects of road inclination. Then for the vertical dynamics, we propose to incorporate the suspension deflection to calculate the transfer of vertical load. For the lateral dynamics, we propose the model of transfer of lateral forces to describe the interaction between left wheel and right wheel. With this new model, the lateral force at each tire can be calculated without sideslip angle. Similarly, for longitudinal dynamics, we also propose the model of transfer of longitudinal forces to calculate the longitudinal force at each tire. In the aspect of observer design, we propose a novel observation system, which is consisted of four individual observers connected in a cascaded way. The four observers are developed for the estimation of vertical tire force, lateral tire force and longitudinal tire force and sideslip angle respectively. For the linear system, the Kalman filter is employed. While for the nonlinear system, the EKF, UKF and PF are applied to minimize the estimation errors. In the aspect of adaptive estimation, we propose the algorithms to improve sensor measurement and estimate vehicle parameters in order to stay robust in presence of parameter variation and sensor errors. Furthermore, we also propose to incorporate the digital map to enhance the estimation accuracy. The utilization of digital map could also enable the prediction of vehicle dynamics states and prevent the road accidents. Finally, we implement our algorithm in the experimental vehicle to realize real-time estimation. Experimental data has validated the proposed algorithm.

Today, Sport Utility Vehicles are marketed as both on-road and off-road vehicles. This results in a compromise when designing the suspension of the vehicle. If the suspension characteristics are fixed, the vehicle cannot have good handling capabilities on highways and good ride comfort over rough terrain. The rollover propensity of this type of vehicle compared to normal cars is high because it has a combination of a high centre of gravity and a softer suspension. The 4 State Semi-active Suspension System (4S4) that can switch between two discrete spring characteristics as well as two discrete damper characteristics, has been proven to overcome this compromise. The soft suspension setting (soft spring and low damping) is used for ride comfort, while the hard suspension setting (stiff spring and high damping) is used for handling. The following question arises: when is which setting most appropriate? The two main contributing factors are the terrain profile and the driver’s actions. Ride comfort is primarily dependant on the terrain that the vehicle is travelling over. If the terrain can be identified, certain driving styles can be expected for that specific environment. The terrains range from rough and uncomfortable to smooth with high speed manoeuvring. Terrain classification methods are proposed and tested with measured data from the test vehicle on known terrain types. Good results were obtained from the terrain classification methods. Five terrain types were accurately identified from over an hour’s worth of vehicle testing. Handling manoeuvres happen unexpectedly, often to avoid an accident. To improve the handling and therefore safety of the vehicle, the 4S4 can be switched to the hard suspension setting, which results in a reduced body roll angle. This decision should be made quickly with the occupants’ safety as the priority. Methods were investigated that will determine when to switch the suspension to the handling mode based on the kinematics of the vehicle. The switching strategies proposed in this study have the potential, with a little refinement, to make the ride versus handling decision correctly. Copyright 2007, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Bester, R 2007, The ride comfort versus handling decision for off-road vehicles, MEng dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10252007-111611 / > / Dissertation (MEng (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted