A dynamic model of a complete vehicle with a driver to evaluate the behavior of a passenger car on the road

Abstract

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">While computational resources are in accelerated development, so are virtual models of physical systems applied to engineering analysis via simulation. In this context, the present work aims to develop and update software that uses a computational model of a half-car into a full vehicle with a driver with 8 degrees of freedom for vehicle dynamics analysis. The Vehicle Dynamic Model software provides four main results: (I) Steady-state responses; (II) frequency responses; (III) animation of the vehicle riding on the track profile; and (IV) the natural frequencies and vibration modes of the vehicle. Seeking an interactive process that allows simulations aiming at a clear understanding of the effects on the dynamic behavior of a passenger vehicle according to the defined design parameters, a friendly graphical user interface was also developed with the aid of MATLAB. In this interface, parameters such as mass, stiffness, inertia, components lengths, and damping coefficients of body and suspension can be changed, as also the track profile. At the end of the work, a few scenarios were proposed, and the simulations were made using data from the literature, endeavoring to achieve the validation of the computational model used by the Vehicle Dynamic Model software. Once the expected results were found, the software was considered validated.</div></div>