Investigation of vehicle stability under crosswind conditions based on coupling methods

Abstract

In this study, vehicle stability under crosswind conditions is investigated. A two-way coupling method is established based on computational fluid dynamics and vehicle multi-body dynamics. Large eddy simulation is employed in the computational fluid dynamics model to compute the transient aerodynamic load, and the accuracy of the large eddy simulation is validated with a wind tunnel experiment. The arbitrary Lagrange–Euler technique is used in the computational fluid dynamics simulation to realise vehicle motion, and a real-time data transmission method is employed to ensure effective exchange of data between the computational fluid dynamics and multi-body dynamics models. The robustness of the two-way coupling model is verified by changing the position of the vehicle centroid. The results of the two-way and one-way coupling simulations demonstrate that crosswinds significantly affect vehicle stability. There is a clear difference between the results obtained with the two methods, particularly after the disappearance of the crosswind. The main reason for the difference is that the interaction between the transient airflow and the vehicle movement is considered in the two-way coupling method. Therefore, investigations of vehicle stability under crosswind conditions should consider the coupling of transient aerodynamic force and vehicle movement.