Handling enhancement of a sliding-mode control assisted four-wheel steer vehicle

Abstract

This paper is an investigation of the role of the robust control strategy of the rear wheel steer system to improve handling. To establish an accurate model of the vehicle, a nine degree-of-freedom (DOF) model is considered. The model’s degrees of freedom consist of three angular motions (roll, pitch, and yaw) of the sprung mass, spin of the wheels, and two translational motions (forward and side travel) of the unsprung mass. Also, the environment and geometric effects, such as aerodynamic forces, tyre–ground interaction, body roll versus camber relation, steering command saturation, and roll axis inclination, are taken into account. The front and rear suspensions are assumed to be a MacPherson strut and semi-trailing arm respectively. Cornering behaviour of the vehicle is studied and compared for a manual two-wheel steer (2WS) and a sliding-mode control assisted four-wheel steer (4WS) vehicle. A 3-DOF vehicle model is used to make a fast state estimation. The yaw rate is used as the reference signal for the control system, to ensure that the desired handling is obtained. The results show that during the standard cornering manoeuvres, the sliding-mode control provides significant tracking performance and lower sensitivity to vehicle velocity, road condition, and roll axis inclination compared to the 2WS. Also lane tracking and cornering behaviour of the steering system is enhanced towards the neutral steer.