Optimization of Vehicle Suspension Systems for Improved Comfort of Road Vehicles Using Flexible Multibody Dynamics

Methods that account for the flexibility of multibody systems extend the range of applications to areas such as flexible robots, precision machinery, vehicle dynamics or space satellites. The method proposed here for flexible multibody models allows for the representation of complex-shaped bodies using general finite-element discretizations which deform during the dynamic loading of the system, while the gross rigid body motion of these bodies is still captured using fixed-body coordinate frames. Components of the system for which the deformations are relatively unimportant are represented with rigid bodies. This method is applied to a road vehicle where flexibility plays an important role in its ride and handling dynamic behavior. Therefore, for the study of the limit behavior of the vehicles, the use of flexible multibody models is of high importance. The design process of these vehicles, very often based on intuition and experience, can be greatly enhanced through the use of generalized optimization techniques concurrently with multibody codes. The use of sparse matrix system solvers and modal superposition, to reduce the number of flexible coordinates, in a computer simulation, assures a fast and reliable analysis tool for the optimization process. The optimum design of the vehicle is achieved through the use of an optimization algorithm with finite-differencesensitivities, where the characteristics of the vehicle components are the design variables on which appropriate constraints are imposed. The ride optimization is achieved by finding the optimum of a ride index that results from a metric that accounts for the acceleration in several key points in the vehicle properly weighted in face of their importance for the comfort of the occupant. Simulations with different road profiles are performed for different speeds to account for diverse ride situations. The results are presented and discussed in view of the different methods usedwith emphasis on models and algorithms.     

A nonlinear finite-element approach for kineto-static analysis of multibody systems

Methods that treat rigid/flexible multibody systems undergoing large motion as well as deformations are often accompanied with inefficiencies and instabilities in the numerical solution due to the large number of state variables, differences in the magnitudes of the rigid and flexible body coordinates, and the time dependencies of the mass and stiffness matrices. The kineto-static methodology of this paper treats a multibody mechanical system to consist of two collections of bulky (rigid) bodies and relatively flexible ones. A mixed boundary condition nonlinear finite element problem is then formulated at each time step whose known quantities are the displacements of the nodes at the boundary of rigid and flexible bodies and its unknowns are the deformed shape of the entire structure and the loads (forces and moments) at the boundary. Partitioning techniques are used to solve the systems of equations for the unknowns, and the numerical solution of the rigid multibody system governing equations of motion is carried out. The methodology is very much suitable in modelling and predicting the impact responses of multibody system since both nonlinear and large gross motion as well as deformations are encountered. Therefore, it has been adopted for the studies of the dynamic responses of ground vehicle or aircraft occupants in different crash scenarios. The kineto-static methodology is used to determine the large motion of the rigid segments of the occupant such as the limbs and the small deformations of the flexible bodies such as the spinal column. One of the most dangerous modes of injury is the amount of compressive load that the spine experiences. Based on the developed method, a mathematical model of the occupant with a nonlinear finite element model of the lumbar spine is developed for a Hybrid II (Part 572) anthropomorphic test dummy. The lumbar spine model is then incorporated into a gross motion occupant model. The analytical results are correlated with the experimental results from the impact sled test of the dummy/seat/restraint system. With this extended occupant model containing the lumbar spine, the gross motion of occupant segments, including displacements, velocities and accelerations as well as spinal axial loads, bending moments, shear forces, internal forces, nodal forces, and deformation time histories are evaluated. This detailed information helps in assessing the level of spinal injury, determining mechanisms of spinal injury, and designing better occupant safety devices.     

Partition method for impact dynamics of flexible multibody systems based on contact constraint

The impact dynamics of a flexible multibody system is investigated. By using a partition method, the system is divided into two parts, the local impact region and the region away from the impact. The two parts are connected by specific boundary conditions, and the system after partition is equivalent to the original system. According to the rigid-flexible coupling dynamic theory of multibody system, system＇s rigid-flexible coupling dynamic equations without impact are derived. A local impulse method for establishing the initial impact conditions is proposed. It satisfies the compatibility con- ditions for contact constraints and the actual physical situation of the impact process of flexible bodies. Based on the contact constraint method, system＇s impact dynamic equa- tions are derived in a differential-algebraic form. The contact/separation criterion and the algorithm are given. An impact dynamic simulation is given. The results show that system＇s dynamic behaviors including the energy, the deformations, the displacements, and the impact force during the impact process change dramatically. The impact makes great effects on the global dynamics of the system during and after impact.     

Soft soil track interaction modeling in single rigid body tracked vehicle models

Single rigid body models are often used for fast simulation of tracked vehicle dynamics on soft soils. Modeling of soil-track interaction forces is the key modeling aspect here. Accuracy of the soil-track interaction model depends on calculation of soil deformation in track contact patch and modeling of soil resistive response to this deformation. An algorithmic method to calculate soft soil deformation at points in track contact patch, during spatial motion simulation using single body models of tracked vehicles, is discussed here. Improved calculations of shear displacement distribution in the track contact patch compared to existing methods, and realistically modeling plastically deformable nature of soil in the sinkage direction in single body modeling of tracked vehicle, are the novel contributions of this paper. Results of spatial motion simulation from a single body model using the proposed method and from a higher degree of freedom multibody model are compared for motion over flat and uneven terrains. Single body modeling of tracked vehicle using the proposed method affords quicker results with sufficient accuracy when compared to those obtained from the multibody model.     

Dynamics of flexible mechanical systems with contact-impact and plastic deformations

A computer based formulation for the analysis of mechanical systems is investigated as a feasible method to predict the impact response of complex structural systems. A general methodology for the dynamic analysis of rigid-flexible multibody systems using a number of redundant Cartesian coordinates and the method of the Lagrange multipliers is presented. The component mode synthesis is then used to reduce the number of flexible degrees of freedom. In many impact situations, the individual structural members are overloaded giving rise to plastic deformations in highly localized regions, called plastic hinges. This concept is used by associating revolute nonlinear actuators with constitutive relations corresponding to the collapse behavior of the structural components. The contact of the system components is described using a continuous force model based on the Hertz contact law with hysteresis damping. The effect and importance of structural damping schemes in flexible bodies are also addressed here. Finally, the validity of this methodology is assessed by comparing the results of the proposed models with those obtained in different experimental tests where: a beam collides transversally with a rigid block; a torque box impacts a rigid barrier.     

基于虚拟激励法的车-轨-桥耦合系统的随机振动响应分析

轨道随机不平顺作为引起车辆-轨道-桥梁耦合系统振动的最重要的激励源,对列车过桥平稳性有着至关重要的影响．建立车辆-轨道-桥梁耦合垂向振动模型,采用虚拟激励法,计算随机不平顺激励下车辆运行的平稳性以及轨道和桥梁结构的振动特性,避免了繁复的时频转换和复杂的数值积分．数值分析了不同速度下列车过桥的平稳性和列车对不平顺波长的敏感范围．经过分析得到,列车运行速度越大,过桥平稳性指标越大,即舒适性越差;而且影响列车平稳性的不平顺波长越长,其影响范围越大．     

基于初应力法的作大范围运动柔性梁动力学建模理论研究

研究了初应力法的作大范围运动柔性梁的建模理论.根据连续介质理论,考虑应变-位移中的非线性项,用一致质量有限元法对柔性梁进行离散,基于Jourdain速度变分原理导出定轴转动下大范围运动为自由的柔性梁刚-柔耦合动力学方程.从其刚柔耦合动力学方程出发,考虑在大范围运动已知情况下的结构动力学方程.通过引入准静态概念,把其结构动力学方程转化为准静态方程.对纵向和横向变形节点坐标进行坐标分离,解出与纵向变形相关的准静态方程,得到准静态时的纵向应力表达式,从而获得附加刚度项.并对此非惯性系下作大范围运动柔性梁的结构动力学方程进行数值仿真,对零次近似模型、一次近似模型、初应力法动力学模型的仿真结果进行分析,揭示三种模型的动力学性质的差异.     

作旋转运动功能梯度材料矩形Mindlin板的刚柔耦合动力学建模1)

研究了作大范围运动功能梯度材料矩形板的刚柔耦合动力学问题。从连续介质力学理论出发,基于Mindlin板理论,采用无网格径向基点插值法(radial point interpolation method,RPIM)对矩形板变形场进行离散,考虑柔性板变形位移中二阶非线性耦合变形量,即横向弯曲引起的纵向缩短量,运用第二类拉格朗日方程推导了大范围运动功能梯度材料板的刚柔耦合动力学方程。分别采用一次近似耦合模型和传统零次近似耦合模型对不同转速下的功能梯度悬臂板进行了仿真,结果说明随着转速的提高,传统零次模型将发散,而一次近似模型依然收敛。将仿真结果与假设模态法和有限元法对比,验证了本文基于RPIM建立的动力学模型的正确性及在同等计算条件下的优越性。研究了功能梯度指数对作旋转运动的功能梯度矩形板动力学特性的影响。结果表明,随着功能梯度指数的增大,板的横向变形增大,且固有频率随之减小,说明功能梯度指数的增大会使系统柔性增加。同时,对中心刚体-功能梯度悬臂板的自由振动频率转向现象进行了讨论。     

Deployment dynamics of a simplified spinning IKAROS solar sail via absolute coordinate based method

The spinning solar sail of large scale has been well developed in recent years. Such a solar sail can be considered as a rigid-flexible multibody system mainly composed of a spinning central rigid hub, a number of flexible thin tethers, sail membranes, and tip masses. A simplified interplanetary kite-craft accelerated by radiation of the Sun (IKAROS) model is established in this study by using the absolute-coordinate-based (ACB) method that combines the natural coordinate formulation (NCF) describing the central rigid hub and the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) describing flexible parts. The initial configuration of the system in the second-stage deployment is determined through both dynamic and static analyses. The huge set of stiff equations of system dynamics is solved by using the generalized-alpha method, and thus the deployment dynamics of the system can be well understood.     

刚性杆-弹簧摆模型复杂动力学特性的数值仿真

建立一种刚性杆-弹簧摆刚柔耦合强非线性动力学系统模型,给出了无量纲的动力学微分方程．该模型同时存在小幅度快速振荡和大范围慢速摆动的快、慢双时间尺度变量．针对工程中此类系统数值求解容易产生的刚性问题,采用一种三次Hermite插值精细积分法进行数值计算．将频率比、摆长比和初始摆角作为控制参数,研究刚性杆-弹簧摆刚柔耦合系统快、慢变量的复杂动力学行为．通过数值仿真分析,发现系统在不同的控制参数组合下呈现出混沌运动状态,并给出了与系统运动状态相关的控制参数范围,为复杂的刚柔耦合多体系统的设计与数值分析提供了参考．     

Steady-state analysis of multibody systems with reference to vehicle dynamics

This paper presents a systematic methodology and formulation for determining the steady-state response of multibody systems. The equations of motion for a general multibody system are described in terms of a set of relative joint accelerations. Then, the differential equations of motion are converted to a set of algebraic equations for the steady-state response. These equations are derived based upon a set of conditions that must exist for the steady state. The application of this formulation in determining the steady-state response of a vehicle moving in a circular path is shown. The multibody model of the vehicle for two- or four-wheel steering is presented. The results of the steady-state simulation are compared with those obtained from a transient dynamic analysis.     

A velocity transformation method for the nonlinear dynamic simulation of railroad vehicle systems

The solution of the constrained multibody system equations of motion using the generalized coordinate partitioning method requires the identification of the dependent and independent coordinates. Using this approach, only the independent accelerations are integrated forward in time in order to determine the independent coordinates and velocities. Dependent coordinates are determined by solving the nonlinear constraint equations at the position level. If the constraint equations are highly nonlinear, numerical difficulties can be encountered or more Newton–Raphson iterations may be required in order to achieve convergence for the dependent variables. In this paper, a velocity transformation method is proposed for railroad vehicle systems in order to deal with the nonlinearity of the constraint equations when the vehicles negotiate curved tracks. In this formulation, two different sets of coordinates are simultaneously used. The first set is the absolute Cartesian coordinates which are widely used in general multibody system computer formulations. These coordinates lead to a simple form of the equations of motion which has a sparse matrix structure. The second set is the trajectory coordinates which are widely used in specialized railroad vehicle system formulations. The trajectory coordinates can be used to obtain simple formulations of the specified motion trajectory constraint equations in the case of railroad vehicle systems. While the equations of motion are formulated in terms of the absolute Cartesian coordinates, the trajectory accelerations are the ones which are integrated forward in time. The problems associated with the higher degree of differentiability required when the trajectory coordinates are used are discussed. Numerical examples are presented in order to examine the performance of the hybrid coordinate formulation proposed in this paper in the analysis of multibody railroad vehicle systems.     

Ride dynamics mathematical model for a single station representation of tracked vehicle

Tracked vehicles are exposed to severe ride environment due to dynamic terrain-vehicle interactions. Hence it is essential to understand the vibration levels transmitted to the vehicle, as it negotiates different types of terrains at different speeds. The present study is focused on the development of single station representation of tracked vehicles with trailing arm hydro-gas suspension systems, simulating the ride dynamics. The kinematics of hydro-gas suspension system have been derived in order to determine the non-linear stiffness characteristics at various charging pressures. Then, incorporating the actual suspension kinematics, non-linear governing equations of motion have been derived for the sprung and unsprung masses and solved by coding in Matlab. Effect of suspension non-linear dynamics on the single station ride vibrations have been analyzed and validated with a multi-body dynamics model developed using MSC.ADAMS. The above mathematical models would help in estimating the ride vibration levels of the tracked vehicle, negotiating different types of terrains at various speeds and also enable the designers to fine-tune the suspension characteristics such that the ride vibrations are within acceptable limits. The mathematical ride model would also assist in development of non-linear ride vibration model of full tracked vehicle and estimate the sprung mass dynamics.     

径向基点插值法在旋转柔性梁动力学中的应用

将无网格径向基点插值法用于旋转柔性梁的动力学分析. 利用无网格方法对柔性梁的变形场进行离散,考虑梁的纵向拉伸变形和横向弯曲变形,并计入横向弯曲变形引起的纵向缩短,即非线性耦合项,运用第二类拉格朗日方程推导得到系统刚柔耦合动力学方程. 将无网格径向基点插值法的仿真结果有限元法和假设模态法进行比较分析,说明假设模态法的局限性,并表明其作为一种柔性体离散方法在刚柔耦合多体系统动力学的研究中具有可推广性,并讨论了径向基形状参数的影响. 同时运用3 种求解系统动力学方程的方法:纽马克方法、4阶龙格库塔法、亚当姆斯预报校正法,并比较各方法的计算效率, 结果表明纽马克方法最快.      

计及热应变的空间曲梁的刚-柔耦合动力学

研究带中心刚体的作大范围运动的空间曲梁的刚-柔耦合动力学.结合混合坐标法和绝对坐标法的特点,取与中心刚体大范围运动有关的变量和柔性梁各单元节点相对中心刚体连体基的位移和斜率作为广义坐标,建立了一种新的柔性梁的刚柔耦合模型.基于精确的应变和位移的关系式,根据Jourdian速度变分原理,建立了带中心刚体柔性曲梁的有限元离散的动力学方程.数值对比了空间曲梁系统和空间直梁系统的刚柔耦合动力学性质,用能量守恒规律验证了文中曲梁模型的合理性.在此基础上,在应变能中计及热应变,研究温度增高引起的曲梁的热膨胀对系统的动力学性态的影响.     

A DYNAMIC MODEL FOR ROCKET LAUNCHER WITH COUPLED RIGID AND FLEXIBLW MOTION

The dynamics of a coupled rigid-flexible rocket launcher is reported. The coupled rigid-flexible rocket launcher is divided into two subsystems, one is a system of rigid bodies,the other a flexible launch tube which can undergo large overall motions spatially. First, the mathematical models for these two subsystems were established respectively. Then the dynamic model for the whole system was obtained by considering the coupling effect between these two subsystems. The approach, which divides a complex system into several simple subsystems first and then obtains the dynamic model for the whole system via combining the existing dynamic models for simple subsystems, can make the modeling procedure efficient and convenient.