This thesis treats the handling analysis of the Vehiconomic's three wheeled prototype vehicle "Smite". This is a light weight low emission vehicle intended for urban traffic but with sufficient power supply to manage highway driving as well. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the vehicle's stability and handling characteristics using the multibody simulation software ADAMS/Car, and also to try to find a more optimum configuration of the vehicle. The software in an excellent tool that allows you to examine different driving scenarios and easily make vehicle modifications, both quicker and safer than in real life. In order to obtain reliable results the simulations have to be as close to the reality as possible. The ADAMS/Car model was validated with the help of logged data, derived while performing physical test runs on an air strip. Maneuvers preformed were; Severe lane change, Slalom maneuver and a J-turn maneuver. Due to simplifications made in the virtual model, the validation did not generate satisfying results for all driving scenarios, but the model is considered good enough to help draw general conclusions about the vehicle's behavior. The largest simplification made was regarding the propelling of the vehicle, which was made front wheel driven instead of rear wheel driven. Due to the simple construction of the vehicle, very little room for modifications is available. The possibilities to affect the position of the center of gravity are very limited. The only room for modification available is in the front suspension system. Due to multiple mounting points for the spring/damper component, 12 different combinations of the front suspension system were generated. Additionally two more setups were made by changing the track width with the implementation of spacers. A suspension configuration was found that reduced the roll angle with approximately 10%.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kth-102038 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Kovacevic, Igor |
| Publisher | KTH, Fordonsdynamik |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Trita-AVE, 1651-7660 ; 2012:44 |
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