ME4214

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

ME4214 VEHICLE DYNAMICS

(Semester I : AY2011/2012)

Time Allowed : 2 Hours

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:

1. This examination paper contains FIVE (5) questions and comprises FIVE (5) printed
pages.

2. Answer all FIVE (5) questions.

3. All questions do not carry equal marks.

4. This is an OPEN-BOOK EXAMINATION.

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QUESTION 1

A frame for a heavy truck, as shown below, has a uniformly distributed mass, M and mass
moment of inertia, Iy around its center of gravity. It is supported on front and rear
suspensions with effective stiffness and damping constants as shown. The frame supports the
cab and engine weight in the front and fuel tank weight in the rear. There is no payload.

Derive equations of motion for this system at the center of the wheel base, L using both

(a) Newtons law of motion and

(b) Energy method,

(c) Present equations of motion in the matrix form.

(25 marks)
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QUESTION 2

The single degree of freedom system shown below has mass, M, effective suspension spring
stiffness, K and damping constant, C. It is excited by the variation in road surface amplitude.

State the equation of motion for this system and derive the transfer function for body
acceleration.
(20 marks)

Transfer Function, TF () = ()/yr(), where is the frequency.

QUESTION 3

For a given vehicle speed, the torque delivered to the wheels is T1 when the engine speed
corresponds to the maximum engine torque and is T2 when engine speed corresponds to
maximum engine power. Explain why T2 is higher than T1.

(5 marks)
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QUESTION 4

A vehicle with both front and rear wheel steering has the following characteristics.

Mass of vehicle, m = 1300 kg

Moment of inertia about vertical axis, Iz = 1800 kg m2
Distance of front axle from center of mass, a1 = 1.2 m
Distance of rear axle from center of mass, a2 = 1.3 m
Front wheel tire lateral force coefficient, CfL = CfR = 30 kN/rad
Rear wheel tire lateral force coefficient, CrL = CrR = 25 kN/rad

(a) With the vehicle traveling at a forward speed of 40 km/h, the front wheels are steered
at an angle of 20 while the steering of the rear wheels is kept at zero.

Find the steady-state radius of curvature of the circular path traced out by the vehicle.
(15 marks)

(b) With the steering of the front wheels kept at 20, find the steering angle that needs to
be applied to the rear wheels so that the steady-state radius of curvature is 6 m. The
forward speed is maintained constant at 40 km/h.
(10 marks)
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QUESTION 5

A front wheel steering vehicle with the following characteristics is traveling along a straight
line with a constant forward speed of 20 m/s.

Mass of vehicle, m = 1400 kg

Moment of inertia about vertical axis, Iz = 1200 kg m2
Distance of front axle from center of mass, a1 = 1.2 m
Distance of rear axle from center of mass, a2 = 1.3 m
Front wheel tire lateral force coefficient, CfL = CfR = 30 kN/rad
Rear wheel tire lateral force coefficient, CrL = CrR = 25 kN/rad

At time t=0, the vehicle is subjected to a side impact such that its lateral speed and yaw rate
are increased suddenly to vy = 1 m/s and r = 0.5 rad/s, respectively.

Assuming that the front wheels are locked in position such that the steering is kept at zero,
find the lateral speed of the vehicle 0.5s after the impact.
(25 marks)
You may also assume that the forward speed remains constant.

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