A novel semi-empirical tyre model for combined slips

Abstract

A new tyre-force model for simultaneous braking and cornering is presented, which is based on combining existing empirical models for pure braking and cornering with brush-model tyre mechanics. The aim is to offer an easy-to-use, accurate model for vehicle-handling simulations. On a working tyre the contact patch between the tyre and the road is, in general, divided into an adhesion region where the rubber is gripping the road and a sliding region where the rubber slides on the road surface. The total force generated by the tyre is then composed of components from these two regions. The brush model describes this in a mechanical framework. The proposed model is based on a new method to extract adhesion and sliding forces from empirical pure-slip tyre models. These forces are then scaled to account for the combined-slip condition. The combined-slip self-aligning torque is also described. A particular feature of the model is the inclusion of velocity dependence, even if this is not explicitly present in the empirical pure-slip model. The approach is quite different from most previous combined-slip models, in that it is based on a rather detailed mechanical model in combination with empirical pure-slip models. The model is computationally sound and efficient and does not rely on any additional parameters that depend on combined-slip data for calibration. It can be used in combination with virtually any empirical pure-slip model and in this work the Magic Formula is used in examples. Results show good correspondence with experimental data.