MECA0525 : Vehicle dynamics

Pierre Duysinx
Research Center in Sustainable Automotive
Technologies of University of Liege
Academic Year 2021-2022

1
Lesson 1:
Steady State Cornering

2
Bibliography
◼ T. Gillespie. « Fundamentals of vehicle Dynamics », 1992, Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE)
◼ W. Milliken & D. Milliken. « Race Car Vehicle Dynamics », 1995, Society
of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
◼ R. Bosch. « Automotive Handbook ». 5th edition. 2002. Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE)
◼ J.Y. Wong. « Theory of Ground Vehicles ». John Wiley & sons. 1993
(2nd edition) 2001 (3rd edition).
◼ M. Blundel & D. Harty. « The multibody Systems Approach to Vehicle
Dynamics » 2004. Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
◼ G. Genta. «Motor vehicle dynamics: Modelling and Simulation ». Series
on Advances in Mathematics for Applied Sciences - Vol. 43. World
Scientific. 1997.

3
INTRODUCTION TO HANDLING

4
Introduction to vehicle dynamics
◼ Introduction to vehicle handling
◼ Vehicle axes system

◼ Tire mechanics & cornering properties of tires

◼ Terminology and axis system
◼ Lateral forces and sideslip angles
◼ Aligning moment

◼ Single track model

◼ Low speed cornering
◼ Ackerman theory
◼ Ackerman-Jeantaud theory

5
Introduction to vehicle dynamics
◼ High speed steady state cornering
◼ Equilibrium equations of the vehicle
◼ Gratzmüller equality

◼ Compatibility equations
◼ Steering angle as a function of the speed
◼ Neutral, understeer and oversteer behaviour
◼ Critical and characteristic speeds
◼ Lateral acceleration gain and yaw speed gain
◼ Drift angle of the vehicle
◼ Static margin

◼ Exercises

6
Introduction
◼ In the past, but still nowadays, the understeer and oversteer
character dominated the stability and controllability
considerations
◼ This is an important factor, but it is not the sole one…

◼ In practice, one should consider the whole closed loop system

vehicle + driver
◼ Driver = intelligence
◼ Vehicle = plant system creating the manoeuvring forces

◼ The behaviour of the closed-loop system is referred as the

« handling », which can be roughly understood as the road
holding
7
Introduction

Model of the system vehicle + driver

8
Introduction
◼ However because of the difficulty to characterize the driver, it is
usual to study the vehicle alone as an open loop system.

◼ Open loop refers to the vehicle responses with respect to

specific steering inputs. It is more precisely defined as the
‘directional response’ behaviour.

◼ The most commonly used measure of open-loop response is the

understeer gradient

◼ The understeer gradient is a performance measure under

steady-state conditions although it is also used to infer
performance properties under non steady state conditions
9
AXES SYSTEM

10
 Reference frames

O
X
Y Z
Local reference frame oxyz
Inertial coordinate system OXYZ attached to the vehicle body -
SAE (Gillespie, fig. 1.4)
11
Reference frames
◼ Inertial reference frame
◼ X direction of initial displacement or reference direction
◼ Y right side travel
◼ Z towards downward vertical direction

◼ Vehicle reference frame (SAE):

◼ x along motion direction and vehicle symmetry plane
◼ z pointing towards the center of the earth
◼ y in the lateral direction on the right-hand side of the driver
towards the downward vertical direction
◼ o, origin at the center of mass

12
 Reference frames

y x z

Système SAE z

Comparison of conventions of y
SAE and ISO/DIN reference
x
frames
Système ISO

13
 Local velocity vectors
◼ Vehicle motion is often studied in
car-body local systems
◼ u : forward speed (+ if in front)
◼ v : side speed (+ to the right)
◼ w : vertical speed (+ downward)
◼ p : rotation speed about x axis (roll
speed) or wx.
◼ q : rotation speed about y (pitch)
or wy.
◼ r : rotation speed about z (yaw) or
wz.

14
Forces
◼ Forces and moments are accounted positively when acting onto
the vehicle and in the positive direction with respect to the
considered frame

◼ Corollary
◼ A positive Fx force propels the vehicle forward

◼ The reaction force Rz of the ground onto the wheels is

accounted negatively.

◼ Because of the inconveniency of this definition, the SAEJ670e

« Vehicle Dynamics Terminology » names as normal force a
force acting downward while vertical forces are referring to
upward forces

15
VEHICLE MODELING

16
 The bicycle model
Velocity ◼ When the behaviours of the left
t
 f and right hand wheels are not
that much different, one can
model the vehicle as a single
Tf
Fyf track vehicle known as the
Fxf bicycle model or single track
b
x,u,p model.
L
z,w,r y,v,q ◼ The bicycle model proved to be
c r able to account for numerous
properties of the dynamic and
Fyr stability behaviour of vehicle
Tr under various conditions.
Fxr
17
 The bicycle model
Velocity ◼ Geometrical data:
t
 f ◼ Wheel base: L
◼ Distance from front (resp. rear)
axle to CG: b (resp. c)
Tf
Fyf ◼ Track: t
b Fxf ◼ Tire variables
x,u,p
◼ Sideslip angles of the front and
L rear tires: f and r
z,w,r y,v,q ◼ Steering angle (of front wheels) 
c r
◼ Lateral forces developed under
front and rear wheels respectively:
Fyr Fyf and Fyr.
Tr ◼ Longitudinal forces developed
Fxr under front and rear wheel
respectively: Fxf and Fxr. 18
 The bicycle model
Velocity ◼ Assumptions of the bicycle model
t
 f ◼ Negligible lateral load transfer
◼ Negligible longitudinal load transfer
◼ Negligible roll and pitch motion
Tf
Fyf ◼ The tires remain in linear regime
b Fxf ◼ Constant forward velocity V
x,u,p
◼ Aerodynamics effects are negligible
L ◼ Control in position (whatever should
z,w,r y,v,q be the control forces that are
c r required)
◼ No compliance effect of the
Fyr suspensions and of the body
Tr
Fxr
19
The bicycle model
◼ Remarks on the meaning of the assumptions
◼ Linear regime is valid if lateral acceleration<0.4 g
◼ Linear behaviour of the tire

◼ Roll behaviour is negligible

◼ Lateral load transfer is negligible

◼ Small steering and slip angles, etc.

◼ Smooth ground to neglect the suspension motion
◼ Position control of the command : one can exert a given value of
the input variable (e.g. steering system) independently of the
control forces
◼ The sole input considered here is the steering, but one could also
add the braking and the acceleration pedal.

20
The bicycle model
◼ Assumptions :
◼ Fixed: u = V = constant
◼ No vertical motion: w=0
◼ No roll p=0
◼ No pitch q=0
◼ Bicycle model = 2 dof model :
◼ r=wz, yaw speed
◼ v, lateral velocity or b, side slip of the vehicle
◼ Vehicle parameters:
◼ m, mass,
◼ Jzz inertia about z axis
◼ L, b, c wheel base and position of the CG

21
The bicycle model
Velocity Velocity
h
 f  f

Tf
Fyf Fyf
Fxf Fxf
b u b V
x,u,p
L r
y,v,q v
z,w,r
r c r m, J

Fyr Fyr
Tr
Fxr Fxr
22
LOW SPEED TURNING

23
Low speed turning
◼ At low speed (parking manoeuvre for instance), the centrifugal
accelerations are negligible and the tires have not to develop
any lateral forces
◼ The turning is ruled by kinematics, that is the rolling motion of
tires without (lateral) friction and without slip
◼ If the wheels experience no slippage, the instantaneous centres
of rotation of the four wheels are coincident.
◼ The CIR is located on the perpendicular lines to the tire plan
from the contact point
◼ In order that no tire experiences some scrub, the four
perpendicular lines have to pass through the same point, that is
the centre of the turn.

24
Ackerman-Jeantaud theory

25
Ackerman-Jeantaud condition
◼ One can see that

◼ This gives the Ackerman Jeantaud condition

◼ Corollary

26
Ackerman-Jeantaud condition
◼ The Jeantaud condition is not always verified by the steering
mechanisms in practice, as the four bar linkage mechanism

Genta Fig. 5.2

27
 Jeantaud condition
◼ The Jeantaud condition can be
determined graphically, but the
former drawing is very badly
conditioned for a good precision
◼ Actually, one resorts to an
alternative approach based on
the following property
◼ Point Q belongs to the line MF
when the Jeantaud condition is
fulfilled
Wong Fig. 5.2 ◼ The distance from Q to the line
MF is a measure of the error
from Jeantaud condition

Wong Fig. 5.4 28

Ackerman theory

29
Ackerman theory
◼ The steering angle of the front wheels

◼ The relation between the Ackerman steering angle  and the

Jeantaud steering angles 1 and 2

R=10 m, L= 2500 mm, t=1300 mm

1 = 15.090° 2= 13.305°
 = 14.142°
(1+2)/2=14.197°
30
Ackerman theory
◼ Curvature radius at the centre of mass

◼ Relation between the curvature and the steering angle

31
Ackerman theory
◼ Side slip b at the centre of mass

32
Ackerman theory
◼ The off-tracking of the rear wheel set

33
HIGH SPEED STEADY STATE CORNERING

34
High speed steady state cornering
◼ At high speed, the tires have to
develop lateral forces to sustain the
lateral accelerations.
◼ The tire can develop forces if and only
if they are subject to a side slip angle.
◼ Because of the kinematics of the
motion, the IC is located at the
intersection of the normal lines to the
local velocity vectors under the tires.
◼ The IC, which was located at the rear
axel for low-speed turn, is now
moving to a point in front.

35
High speed steady state cornering
− f vf
vr
Sideslip angles have

been assumed to be
on left side of the r f
wheel. We consider
the modulus of .

36
 Dynamics equations of the vehicle motion
◼ Newton-Euler equilibrium equation in the non inertial reference
frame of the vehicle body
e J xy = 0
et J yz = 0

◼ Model with 2 dof b & r

◼ Equilibrium equations in Fy and Mz :

◼ Operating forces
◼ Tyre forces
◼ Aerodynamic forces (can be neglected here)
37
 Dynamics equations of the vehicle motion
◼ Newton-Euler equilibrium equation in the non inertial reference
frame of the vehicle body
e J xy = 0
et J yz = 0

◼ Model with 2 dof b & r

◼ Inertia tensor

38
Dynamics equations of the vehicle motion
◼ It comes

◼ And finally

◼ The only nontrivial equations are

39
Dynamics equations of the vehicle motion
◼ Circular motion
◼ wz: rotation speed about vertical axis
◼ V tangent velocity
◼ R radius of the turn

◼ Steady state

◼ Equation of motion

40
Equilibrium equations of the vehicle
◼ Equilibrium equations in lateral direction and rotation about z
axis

◼ Solutions

The lateral forces are in the same ratio as the vertical forces under
the wheel sets 41
Equilibrium equations of the vehicle
◼ Solving

◼ Can be made by using Cramer’s rule

42
 Behaviour equations of the tires
◼ Cornering force for small slip angles

Gillespie, Fig. 6.2

43
Gratzmüller equality
◼ Using the equilibrium and the behaviour condition, one gets

◼ One yields the Gratzmüller equality

44
 Compatibility equations
◼ Compatibility equation consists in evaluating the side slip angles
in terms of the velocities

Because of
assumption r<0!

Because of
steering action !

45
Compatibility equations
◼ Evaluation of velocities under front and rear axles thanks to the
Poisson transport equation

46
Compatibility equations
◼ The velocity under the rear wheels are given by

◼ The compatibility of the velocities yields the slip

angle under the rear wheels

47
Compatibility equations
◼ The velocity under the front wheels are given by

◼ The compatibility of the velocities yields the slip angle under the
front wheels

48
Steering angle
◼ Steering angle as a function of the slip angles under front and
rear wheels

◼ This gives relation between the steering angles and the

Ackerman angle Correction due to side slip

49
Steering angle
◼ Steering angle as a function of the slip angles under front and
rear wheels

◼ Let’s insert the expression of the side slip angles in terms of

lateral forces and cornering stiffness

50
Steering angle
◼ The expression of the steering angle as a function of the slip
angles under front and rear wheels

◼ Inserting the values of the side slip angles as a function of the

velocity and the cornering stiffness of the wheels sets yields

◼ Or

◼ with

51
Understeer gradient
◼ The steering angle is expressed in terms of the centrifugal
acceleration

◼ So

◼ With the understeer gradient K of the vehicle

52
Steering angle as a function of V

Gillespie. Fig. 6.5 Modification of the steering

angle as a function of the speed

53
Neutralsteer, understeer and oversteer vehicles

◼ If K=0, the vehicle is said to be neutralsteer:

The front and rear wheels sets have the same directional ability

◼ If K>0, the vehicle is understeer :

Larger directional factor of the rear wheels

◼ If K<0, the vehicle is oversteer:

Larger directional factor of the front wheels

54
Characteristic and critical speeds
◼ For an understeer vehicle, the understeer level may be
quantified by a parameter known as the characteristic speed. It
is the speed that requires a steering angle that is twice the
Ackerman angle (turn at V=0)

◼ For an oversteer vehicle, there is a critical speed above which

the vehicle will be unstable

55
Lateral acceleration and yaw speed gains
◼ Lateral acceleration gain

◼ Yaw speed gain

56
Lateral acceleration gain
◼ Purpose of the steering system is to produce lateral acceleration

◼ For neutral steer, K=0 and the lateral acceleration gain is

increasing constantly with the square of the speed : V²/L
◼ For understeer vehicle, K>0, the denominator >1 and the lateral
acceleration is reduced with growing speed
◼ For oversteer vehicle, K<0, the denominator is < 1 and
becomes zero for the critical speed, which means that any
perturbation produces an infinite lateral acceleration

57
Yaw velocity gain
◼ The second raison for steering is to change the heading angle
by developing a yaw velocity

◼ For neutral vehicles, the yaw velocity is proportional to the

steering angle and increases with the speed (slope 1/L)
◼ For understeer vehicles, the yaw gain angle is lower than
proportional. It is maximum for the characteristic speed.
◼ For oversteer vehicles, the yaw rate becomes infinite for the
critical speed and the vehicles becomes uncontrollable at critical
speed.

58
Yaw velocity gain

Gillespie. Fig. 6.6 Yaw rate as a function of the steering angle

59
Sideslip angle at centre of mass
◼ Definition (reminder)

◼ Value

◼ Value as a function of the speed V

◼ Becomes zero for the speed

independent of R !
60
 Sideslip angle
b>0 b<0

Gillespie. Fig. 6.7 Sideslip angle for a Gillespie. Fig. 6.8 Sideslip angle for a
low speed turn high speed turn

This is true whatever the vehicle

is understeer or oversteer
61
Static margin
◼ The static margin provides another (equivalent) measure of the
steady-state behaviour

Gillespie. Fig 6.9 Neutral steer line

e>0 if it is located in front of the vehicle centre of gravity
62
Static margin
◼ Suppose the vehicle is in straight line motion (=0)
◼ Let a perturbation force F applied at a distance e from the CG
(e>0 if in front of the CG)
◼ Let’s write the equilibrium

◼ The static margin is the point such that the perturbation lateral
forces F do not produce any steady-state yaw velocity
◼ That is:

63
Static margin
◼ It comes

◼ So the static margin writes

◼ A vehicle is
◼ Neutral steer if e = 0
◼ Under steer (K>0) if e<0 (behind the CG)
◼ Over steer (K<0) if e>0 (in front of the CG)

◼ Remember that
64
Static margin

Gillespie. Fig. 6.10 Maurice Olley’s

definition of understeer and over steer

65