Multi-axle vehicle dynamics with roll

Abstract

The classic two-axle yaw-plane or bicycle model has historically provided basic insight into vehicle handling. It has previously been augmented with suspension effects to allow sprung mass roll, and separately more recently to accommodate multiple axles, any of which could be steering. In this work these two extensions of the yaw-plane model are combined, to form a dynamic model of a vehicle with an arbitrary number of axles, any of which could be steered, and also with a suspension that allows sprung mass roll. Convention and nomenclature are introduced to allow compact expression. As such this work introduces the most general dynamic yaw-plane model to date.