On the handling performance of a vehicle with different front-to-rear wheel torque distributions

The handling characteristic is a classical topic of vehicle dynamics. Usually, vehicle handling is studied by analyzing the understeer coefficient in quasi-steady-state maneuvers. In this paper, experimental tests are performed on an electric vehicle with four independent motors, which is able to reproduce front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive (FWD, RWD and AWD, respectively) architectures. The handling characteristics of each architecture are inferred through classical and new concepts. The study presents a procedure to compute the longitudinal and lateral tire forces, which is based on a first estimate and a subsequent correction of the tire forces that guarantee the equilibrium. A yaw moment analysis is performed to identify the contributions of the longitudinal and lateral forces. The results show a good agreement between the classical and new formulations of the understeer coefficient, and allow to infer a relationship between the understeer coefficient and the yaw moment analysis. The handling characteristics vary with speed and front-to-rear wheel torque distribution. An apparently surprising result arises at low speed: the RWD architecture is the most understeering configuration. This is discussed by analyzing the yaw moment caused by the longitudinal forces of the front tires, which is significant for high values of lateral acceleration and steering angle.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1080/00423114.2018.1546013
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00423114
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Abstract reprinted with permission of Taylor & Francis.
• Authors:
  • Lenzo, Basilio
  • 0000-0002-8520-7953
  • Bucchi, Francesco
  • Sorniotti, Aldo
  • Frendo, Francesco
• Publication Date: 2019-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 1685-1704
• Serial:
  • Vehicle System Dynamics
  • Volume: 57
  • Issue Number: 11
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • ISSN: 0042-3114
  • EISSN: 1744-5159
  • Serial URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/nvsd20/current

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Electric vehicles; Four wheel drive; Front wheel drive; Handling characteristics; Rear wheel drive; Tire forces; Torque; Understeer; Wheel loads; Yaw
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01720583
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 28 2019 10:30AM