Current Research

Co-Simulation of Heavy Truck Tire Dynamics & ESC (Phase B)

Principal investigators:

Thomas Kurfess
Michael Arant

Graduate Students:

Michael Arant 

Sponsors:

NTRCI (National Transportation Research Center, Inc.) 

Brief abstract: 

The primary objective of this research will be improvements to current state of the art commercial ESC systems with regard to rollover prevention and yaw stability control. The ultimate goal of the HTRC (Heavy Truck Rollover Characterization) project is to provide a demonstrator truck with enhancements to improve rollover stability. Incorporation of ESC into the vehicle dynamics simulation is critical for evaluating the performance of proposed
vehicle hardware (e.g. suspension, tire, chassis, etc.) modifications in the context of a truck equipped with modern stability control. In addition, modifications to the ESC system in the form of additional sensors, tractor-trailer communication and advanced algorithms that take advantage of these systems to improve performance may be included on the demonstrator truck. The primary users of this research will be the members of the HTRC: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Battelle Memorial Institute, Michelin Americas Research and Development Corporation, Western Michigan University, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, LBT, Inc. and GIALink Inc. In addition, truck OEMs, suppliers of truck OEM systems and government regulators will benefit from the possible gains in safety realized by these various stability system improvements. 

Impact:

NHTSA / DOT (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration / Department of Transportation). This research will provide information on what the stability limits are of heavy commercial vehicles, which control methods work best, and what the limits are to improving the basic vehicle’s stability. NTRCI (National Transportation Research Center, Inc). The research here will serve as the basis for the development of a full ESC system integrated into the design and construction of a prototype “safe truck”.

Project schedule:

August 2009 - July 2010