Vehicle dynamics simulation using bond graphs

Germn Filippini, Norberto Nigro and Sergio Junco Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Ingeniera y Agrimensura Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Av. Pellegrini 250, S2000EKE Rosario, Argentina.
damping and compliance, and are the place of the attachment of drives or external forces. In classical mechanics several procedures exist through which differential equations can be derived for a system of rigid bodies. In the case of large systems these procedures are labor-intensive and consequently error-prone, unless they are computerized [4]. This work applies the multibody theory through the multibond or vector bond graph technique [2, 3, 5, 6, 7] to the modeling of a complex four-wheel vehicle system. Primarily, bond graphs (BG) represent elementary energy-related phenomena (generation, storage, dissipation, power exchange) using a small set of ideal elements that can be coupled together through external ports representing power flow. Thus, they are well-suited for a modular modeling approach based on physical principles. Hierarchical modeling becomes possible through coupling of component or subsystems models through their connecting ports. Besides these physical features capturing energy exchange phenomena, it is also possible to code on the graph the mathematical structure of the physical system, in the sense of showing the causal relationships (in a computational sense) among its signals [2]. On the one side, this allows connecting BG-models to signal flow graphs or block diagrams, and -on the other side- it turns the algorithmic derivation of mathematical and computational models from BG into a highly formalized task [2]. The conjunction of all these features make of BG a physically based, object-oriented graphical language most suitable for dynamic modeling, analysis and simulation of complex engineering systems involving mixed physical and technical domains in their constitution [7]. The vehicle model developed in this paper considers the vertical, longitudinal and lateral vehicle dynamics, takes into account the geometrical non-linearities associated to the suspension system, and includes Pacejka models [14] for the behavior of the pneumatic tires. Simple, adequate models for the engine and the transmission are also included to take into account the vehicle traction. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section II presents a brief general description of a four-wheel vehicle and of its constituents seen as rigid bodies, and discusses the modeling assumptions. Section III first deals with the standard mathematical modeling of these components and then with their bond graph modeling and discusses the construction of the 20sim library [18]. Section IV presents the full vehicle

AbstractThis work addresses the construction of a fourwheel, nonlinear vehicle dynamic bond graph model and its implementation in the 20sim modeling and simulation environment. Nonlinear effects arising from the coupling of vertical, longitudinal and lateral vehicle dynamics, as well as geometric nonlinearities coming from the suspension system are taken into account. Transmission and (a simplified) engine models are also included. The modeling task is supported by a multibody representation where the parts are handled as rigid bodies linked by joints. The first step is the 3D-modeling of each, chassis, suspension units, tires and joints, as bond graph elements equipped with power ports for physical interconnection. This is done with the help of vector or multibond graphs in order to exploit their compactness and simplicity of representation. These 3D-units are later programmed as 20sim bond graph subsystems whose assembling through the power ports allows for an automated, modular approach to the construction of the overall vehicle model. Simulation experiments corresponding to standard vehicle dynamics tests are presented in order to show the performance of the model.
Index Terms Bond Graphs, Multibody systems, Vehicle dynamics.

I. INTRODUCTION

odeling and simulation has an increasing importance in the development of complex, large mechanical systems. In areas like road vehicles [1, 12, 15], rail vehicles [9], high speed mechanisms, industrial robots and machine tools [10, 11, 6], simulation is an inexpensive way to experiment with the system and to design an appropriate control system. The above indicated kind of mechanical systems belong for a major part to the class of systems of rigid bodies or multibody systems. Such systems consist of a finite number of rigid bodies, interconnected by arbitrary joints. The latter may exhibit properties of rotational or translational freedom,

Norberto Nigro whish to thanks CONICET for its support to this research. N. Nigro is with CIMEC-INTEC-CONICET and with the School of Mechanical Engineering, Facultad de Ingeniera (FCEIA), Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR), Argentina. (Corresponding author. Phone: 54342-4511594; fax: 54-342-4550944; e-mail: nnigro@intec.unl.edu.ar) . Germn Filippini, is fellow at CIMEC-INTEC and teaching assistant at the School of Mechanical Engineering, FCEIA-UNR (gfilippini@ceride.gov.ar ). Sergio J. Junco is with the Department of Electronics, FCEIA-UNR, Argentina (sjunco@fceia.unr.edu.ar).

model obtained by assembling the library components. Section V presents the simulation results and, finally, Section VI brings the conclusions. II. GENERALITIES AND MODELING ASSUMPTIONS A. Vehicle Chassis The vehicle chassis is modeled as a rigid body with a local coordinate reference frame (x, y, z) attached to the center of mass and aligned with the inertia principal axes as is shown in figure 1. It has mass m, and the following principal inertia moments: roll (Jr) respect to the body x-axis, pitch (Jp) respect to the body y-axis and yaw (Jy) respect to the body z-axis.
(4) Ks Bs (3) Kt Ks Bs

yaw roll

C. Pneumatic tires Aside from aerodynamic and gravitational forces, all other major forces and moments affecting the motion of a ground vehicle are applied through the running gear-ground contact. An understanding of the basic characteristics of the interaction between the running gear and the ground is, therefore, essential to the study of performance characteristics, ride quality, and handling behavior of ground vehicles. However, a detailed explanation about pneumatic tires is out of the scope of this paper. The following figure shows a summary of the main forces, moments and angles that play a major role on the modeling of the pneumatic tire. Each one is associated with a corresponding local axis located at the center of the contact patch of the wheel. Traction (Fx), lateral (Fy) and normal (Fz) forces along X, Y and Z local axis respectively and overturning (Mx), rolling resistance (My) and aligning (Mz) torques along the same axis respectively are modeled in terms of the slip and the camber angles and the pneumatic characteristics. For more details about the fundamentals and the modeling of pneumatic tires see [14, 1, 12].

(2) Ks

y
Bs (1) Ks Kt Bs

r1

pitch

Kt

h1
Kt Fy

Fx

Figure 1: Full car model. As also the four suspension subsystems are modeled as spatial multibody systems, joint models are necessary to link them to the chassis. The joints are represented as flexible instead of rigid using a pseudo spring-damper system with elastic and damping constants. The flow and efforts actuating on the joints depend on the relative position and the relative orientation among the bodies. In order to link two rigid bodies at a given joint it is necessary to do some transformations (translations and rotations) between the reference frames associated to each body. In this way, the state variables expressed at the center of mass of each body are transformed to a local reference frame attached to the joint. B. Engine and Transmission Most vehicles are propulsed by internal (spark or compression ignited) combustion engines which -for our modeling purposes- may be modeled through a given static curve relating the engine speed and the load with its torque and its power. Usually, these curves are obtained through testing the engine at partial and full load. The transmission is composed by the mechanical members connecting the engine crankshaft with the traction wheels, the gearbox and the planetary gear train including the differential [8]. The main phenomena taken into account are the speed and effort transformation among them.

Figure 2: Tire axis reference system D. Suspensions Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. This assembly is used to support weight, absorb and dampen road shock, and help maintain tire contact as well as proper wheel-to-chassis relationship. Without being a restriction for future extensions of the overall vehicle model, only static suspension systems are considered in this work. E. Aerodynamic forces The aerodynamic forces were very simplified in this analysis through the usage of empirical aerodynamic coefficients [1, 16, 17]. In this work only the drag force was included, being the lift and the pitching effects very similar in terms of their mathematical expressions. In the future not only the coefficients, also their sensitivity may be included. III. MATHEMATICAL AND BG MODELING This section presents the subsystem modeling according to the hypothesis of Section II. Previously, the essential issues concerning the bond graph modeling of multibody systems as

used in this paper are addressed. To determine the spatial motion of the rigid body the well known Euler equations are used [2], which appear in (1) and (2) in both, their intrinsic way of representation and their tensorial counterparts. The first one represents the conservation of linear momentum, written as: dp dp F = dt = dt + p (1) rel
Fi = dpi dpi = dt dt + ijk j p k
rel

to the system attached to the center of mass of the rigid body. Referring these port variables to the coordinates of interconnection to other bodies is a must in order to be able to couple the corresponding models. Figure 4 shows the bond graph implementation of the equation system representing how the port variables of two arbitrary points 'A' and 'B' of a given spatial body transform each other. The equations relating the linear and rotational efforts are the following:
M = F r M i = ijk F j rk

(3)

where F , , p represents the external forces, the angular velocity vector and the linear momentum vector respectively; d/dt, d/dt|rel, ijk represent the derivative respect to the inertial frame, the derivative respect to the body (vehicle) attached frame and the Levi-Civita tensor used to express the cross product in tensor notation. The second of the Euler equations sets up the conservation of angular momentum: dh dh M = dt = dt + h (2) rel
Mi = dhi dhi = dt dt + ijk j hk
rel

For the flow variables the equations are the following:

v = r vi = ijk j rk

(4)

where M , h represent the external torque and the angular momentum vector.

Figure 4: Power variables transformation between two points A, B belonging to a given 3-dimensional rigid body. To transform the dynamic equations from those expressed in the body attached frame of reference (roll, pitch and yaw axes) to a spatially fixed frame of reference (X,Y,Z : inertial frame) it is necessary to choose some parameterization for the rotations. Among the multiple possibilities, Euler angles are used in this work. To transform these rotations the following equations are used:

= (5.a); = (5.b); G = (5.c) v = v (5.d); v = v (5.e); v G = v (5.f)

where,
0 1 0 cos = 0 sin sin cos 0
cos = 0 sin sin cos 0 0 0 1 0 sin 1 0 0 cos

Figure 3: BG representation of the spatial rigid body dynamics. The BG representation of the 3-dimensional motion of a rigid body based on the Euler equations is shown in figure 3. The port variables of the above model are defined with respect

cos = sin 0

 x = y z

x = y z v x v = v y v z

X x = G = Y y z Z v x v = v y v z
v X v = vY vZ
G

v x v = v y v z

Its bond graphs representation is observed in figure 5, where the power variables are transformed from (x,y,z) axes to the rotated ones (X,Y,Z) according to the angles , , respect to each axis. It may be observed that while the flow variables are rotated from (xyz) to (XYZ), the effort variables are transformed back from (XYZ) to (xyz). Next, the models used for the different subsystems belonging to the whole vehicle model are presented [2, 12].

Figure 5: 3D-rotation equations expressed in terms of power variables.

Figure 6: BG modeling of Vehicle Chassis A. Vehicle Chassis Figure 6 shows the vehicle chassis model composed by a rigid body model, a coordinate system transformation to the global system where the vehicle weight is imposed and four translational transformations ( ri ) to the pivots of the suspension at each wheel, each one with their corresponding model Engine and Transmission B. Engine and Transmission Engine. In bond graphs representation the engine is modeled as an effort source (the engine output torque) variable with the engine velocity normally expressed in rpm (revolutions per minute) and the position of the butterfly valve (accelerator command) as written by equation (6).
T (T p , Tr , A p ) = A p T p ( ) + (1 A p ) Tr ( )

(6)

where Ap is the accelerator position (0 A p 1) , Tp and Tr are the engine output torque and the resistant torque respectively for a given engine speed ( ) .

While the engine curve, the accelerator position and the resistant torque are data for the model, the engine speed is computed by the whole model. In the Engine Torque model show in figure 7 the output torque is computed by equation (6) and its result T is used to modulate the source MSe.

input and output effort variables through a variable transformation factor that depends on the gearbox ratios supplied to the model in advance.

Figure 9: BG modeling of Gearbox The differential (figure 10) is modeled by a transformer (TF) modulated by the planetary drive train (differential) ratio. The 0 junction imposes the same torque to both traction wheels.

Figure 7: BG modeling of Engine

Figure 10:BG modeling of Differential C. Pneumatic Tires For all forces and moments acting on the tire the Pacejka model [14], inspired by a lot of experiments carried out using different types of pneumatic tires is used. x = sign( ) A 1 e b + c 2 D

Figure 8: BG modeling of Transmission Transmission. Figure 8 shows the main components of the transmission and its structure. The gearbox (figure 9) is modeled using a modulated transformer (MTF) that relates the

B = (K / d )

1/ n

A = 1.12 ; C= 0.625 ; D = 1 K = 46 ; d = 5 ; n = 0.6

(7)

This model is briefly described with the expressions (7), with -1< <1, x being the adherence coefficient, and the longitudinal slip. From these expressions certain lateral stiffness function may be derived:
Fy = D sin C arctan B (1 E ) + E arctan( B )
Fz a3 sin 2 arctan a4 B= CD c = a0 ; y = a1 Fz + a2 ; D = y Fz

Figure 11 shows the pneumatic tire model, composed by a translational transformation of the local coordinate system ( Ti ) of its rigid body to the tire axis using the pneumatic radius as its module. In this coordinate system the axial (Fx) and lateral (Fy) rolling resistance forces are applied through two R bond graph components. Fx takes the signal wTi coming from the 1 joint to compute the longitudinal sliding and both Fx and Fy take the signal coming from the 0 joint to sense the vertical force acting on the pneumatic tire needed to compute the friction forces. Another local system to global system transformation is used to apply the pneumatic weight by a source Se. Using a C component is possible to take into account the vertical stiffness of the pneumatic tire.

E = a6 Fz + a7

; a0 = 1.3 ; a1 = 53.31

a2 = 1190 ; a3 = 588.6 ; a4 = 2.5212 a5 = 0 ; a6 = 0.5178 ; a7 = 1.0

(8)

where is the slip angle. Equation (8) represents the relation among the lateral forces (Fy), the slip angle and the vertical forces (Fz).

Figure 11: Bond graphs modeling of Pneumatic Tire D. Suspensions The model adopted here assumes an independent suspension in each of the four wheels, each one composed by a spring with stiffness "ks" and a damper with damping coefficient "bs", considering the unsprung mass as a 3dimensional rigid body. Figure 12 shows the BGs model of each suspension connecting the pneumatic tire model with the chassis one. The translation hi is used to take into account the suspension height (see figure 1). Two transformations are employed, one for the chasis coordinate system and the other for the pneumatic tire coordinate system to be joined at a common global system (vsG , sG ) . In this way it is possible to link the 6 degrees of freedom. The revolution joint allows the rotation of the pneumatic wheel. Its model is shown in figure 13 where it may be observed how 5 of the 6 degrees of freedoms are constrained using a pseudo spring-damper system allowing only a rotation around y axis.

Figure 12: Bond graphs modeling of Suspension

Figure 13: Bond graphs modeling of Revolution Joint E. Aerodynamic Forces Equation 9 represents the aerodynamic drag force where is the air density, Cx is the (experimentally computed) drag coefficient, Af is the vehicle frontal area and V is the relative velocity between the vehicle and the wind.
Fxaero = 1 Cx Af V 2 2

Figure 14: Bond graphs modeling of Rigid Body with Aerodynamics Resistance IV. FULL VEHICLE VECTOR BG MODEL AND 20SIM IMPLEMENTATION In figure 15 the whole system model is shown, which is built via assembling the previous submodels, pretty much in the same way as a real vehicle is constructed. This is the powerful modular or objected-oriented modeling property of the BG technique.

(9)

This is represented in the Bond Graph formalism by a resistance component applied to the coordinate system fixed to the center of mass of the rigid body that models the chassis, as it is shown in figure 14.

Figure 15: Bond graphs modeling of a vehicle Tire Vertical stiffness Tire inertia Damper coefficient Suspension stiffness Sprung mass - Yaw Inertia Sprung mass - Pitch Inertia Sprung mass - Roll Inertia 150 000 N/m 1.95 Kgm2 475 N s / m 14 900 N/m 2345.53Kg m2 2443.26Kg m2 637.26 Kg m2

V. SIMULATION RESULTS After the validation of the bond graphs multibody toolbox developed in this work, a vehicle dynamics test, extracted from the bibliography is performed [1]. The data, coming from a Renault Clio RL 1.1 car, are the following: Aerodynamics coefficient 0.33 Frontal area 1.86 m2 Distance between axes 2.472 m Vehicle weight 8100 N Centre of mass height 0.6 m Front axis weight 5100 N Rear axis weight 3000 N Maximum engine torque 78.5 Nm at 2500 rpm Maximum engine power 48 CV at 5250 rpm Planetary drive train (differential) ratio 3.571 First gearbox ratio 3.731 Second gearbox ratio 2.049 Third gearbox ratio 1.321 Four gearbox ratio 0.967 Five gearbox ratio 0.795 Reverse gearbox ratio 3.571 Tires, type and dimensions 145 70 R13 S Wheelbase 1.650 m Maximum speed 146 km/h Acceleration 0-100 km/h in 17 s Time spent to do 1000 meters 38 s Distance from centre of mass to front axes 0.916 m Distance from centre of mass to rear axes 1.556 m Pneumatic tire radius (unloaded) 0.2666 m Air density 1.225 kg/m3 Unsprung masses (at each wheel) 38.42 kg

The first test is a sudden motion starting from rest. With the engine butterfly valve fully opened and once the clutch is released the vehicle response may be assessed in terms of the vehicle acceleration in a straight road. Figures 16 to 21 show the results for this case. Figure 16 shows the engine speed (rpm) in time where it may be noted the times at which the gearbox is used. Figure 17 shows the longitudinal vehicle speed in time reaching 100 km/h in less than 20 seconds. Figure 18 plots the longitudinal sliding of one of the traction wheels. The friction force may be evaluated from this figure and the vertical load on the tire (see figure 19). In figure 20 the chassis pitching angle is shown. During the first 10 seconds until the fourth gear is selected the pitching is oscillating reaching a negative smaller value after this time when five gear is selected showing an acceleration behavior. Figure 21 shows the rear wheel load. The time spent to reach 100 km/h was 17 seconds, agreeing very well with the road test published by the manufacturer.

Figure 16: Time evolution of the engine speed.

Figure 20: Chassis pitching as a function of time.

Figure 21: Load [N] over one of the rear wheels. Figure 17: Longitudinal vehicle velocity [m/s] in time. In the second test the vehicle is forced to follow a curved road. The simulation starts with the vehicle in third gear at 65 km/h; the wheel drive in turned such that the front wheels turn 1 degree in 10 sec following a time law as shown in figure 22.

Figure 18: Evolution of one of the traction wheels sliding. Figure 22: Evolution of the turning angle [rad] of the front wheels.

Figure 19: Evolution of the load [N] over a traction wheel. Figure 23: Trajectory in x-y [m]

Figure 24: Sliding angle of one of the front wheels as a function of time.

Figure 27: Front wheels slip angle [rad] as a function of time

Figure 25: Sliding angle of one of the rear wheels as a function of time.

Figure 28: Trajectory x-y [m]

Figure 29: Slip angle of one of the front wheels [rad]. Figure 26: Yaw vehicle response as a function of time. After 5 seconds the wheel drives return to the original position (0 degree). In figure 24 the lateral slip angle of one of the front wheels is shown and in figure 25 the same for one of the rear wheels. Figure 13 plots the trajectory followed by the vehicle and figure 26 the yaw response of the vehicle.

Figure 30: Slip angle of one of the rear wheels [rad].

REFERENCES
[1] F. Aparicio Izquierdo, C. Vera Alvarez, V. Das Lpez, Teora de los vehculos automviles. U. P. de Madrid [2] Ronald C. Rosenberg, Donald L. Margolis, Dean C. Karnopp. Modeling and Simulation of Mechatronic Systems, A Wiley-Interscience Publication, New York. [3] Albert M. Bos. Modeling Multibody Systems in terms of Multibond Graphs, with application to a motorcycle, PhD thesis at Twente Univ. 1986 [4] Ahmed A. Shabana. Dynamics of Multibody systems. A WileyInterscience Publication. [5] Jinhee Jang, Changsoo Han. Proposition of a Modeling Method for Constrained Mechanical Systems Based on the Vector Bond Graph. Journal of the Franklin Institute. Vol. 335B, No 3, pp. 451 469, 1998. [6] T. Erial, J. Stein, L. Louca. A Bond Graphs Based Modular Modeling Approach towards an Automated Modeling Environment for Reconfigurable Machine Tools. IMAACA 2004 [7] F. Cellier, "Hierachical nonlinear bond graph: A unified methodology for modelling complex physical systems", Simulation, Vol 58, No. 4, pp. 230-248. [8] J. M. Mera, C. Vera, J. Flez. 2WD Power Train Modeling with Bond Graph applied to Vehicular Dynamics . Universidad Politcnica de Madrid, Spain. [9] W. Kortuem , A. Urzt, Simulation of active suspensions in ground transportation - Application to Maglev vehicles, 11th IMACS world congress, Oslo, Norway, 5-9 Aug, 1985 [10] B. Paul, Analytical dynamics of mechanisms - a computer oriented overview, Mechanism and Machine Theory, vol 10, pp. 481-507, 1975. [11] B. Paul, Computer oriented analytical dynamics of machinery, Proceedings of the NATO advanced study institute on computer aided analysis and optimization of mechanical system dynamics, ed. E.J. Haug, IOWA City, Aug 1983, Springer, pp. 41-87, 1984 [12] G. Filippini. Dinmica Vehicular mediante bond graphs. Proyecto final de carrera de grado. Escuela de Ingeniera Mecnica, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, 2004 [13] D. Delarmelina, L. Silva, S. Junco. Fault Diagnosis in Vehicle based on its Dinamic Model. Escuela de Ingeniera Mecnica y Escuela de Ingeniera Electronica, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, 2005. [14] H. Pacejka. Tyre Modeling for Use in Vehicle Dynamics Studies. SAE Paper, No. 870421. [15] H.B. Pacejka, Principles of plane motion of automobiles, IUTAM symposium on the dynamics of automobiles, Delft Univ. of Tech. pp. 3359, 1975 [16] W.H. Hucho, editor. Aerodynamics of road vehicles. SAE, (1998). [17] R. H- Barnard, Road vehicle aerodynamic design, Second Edition, MechAero, England, (2001) [18] Getting Started with 20-sim 3.6, Controllab Products B.V., Enschede, Netherlands. Internet: www.20sim.com, 2005.

Figure 31: Yaw angle [rad] as a function of time. In the third test a zigzag maneuver is assessed. The vehicle start the simulation at 65 km/h in third gear the driver turn the wheel drive following a time law as shown in figure 27, the front wheels turn an angle of one degree in 10 seconds. After this time the wheel drive is turned as to reach one degree in the opposite direction in 10 seconds and then return to the original position in the remaining 5 seconds. Figure 29 shows the lateral slip angle of one of the front wheels and figure 30 does the same for one of the rear wheels. Figure 28 shows the vehicle trajectory and figure 31 shows the vehicle yaw angle. The behavior of this case presents some similarity with the second one and it may be observed that in both cases the directional stability is a priori acceptable. However to do a more rigorous analysis we should analyze the eigenvalues of the directional response matrix that may be computed making a sensitivity analysis with simulations. This task is left for future work. For the vehicle application it is observed that for maneuvering in straight road the response of the vehicle with third, four and fifth gears were very smooth concluding that the vehicle is well optimized to be used at velocities greater than 50km/h. For curves the transient response allows for evaluating the directional stability with changes in the position of the wheel drive. According to the results obtained it would be more desirable to have a less oscillatory behavior in turns. VI. CONCLUSIONS One of the main goals of this paper was the extension of this formalism to include large spatial (3-dimensional) rotations. Several elements oriented to multibody systems were developed allowing working with different reference frames, operating with them through the usage of translations and general transformations. This toolbox works acceptable in the vehicle dynamics prediction and it was successfully applied to another project based on vehicle fault diagnostics [13].