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Simulated study on the effect of camber and toe on the handling

characteristics of a car during cornering

Article · January 2013

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International Journal of Applied Engineering Research
ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 8, Number 15 (2013) pp. 1781-1788
© Research India Publications
http://www.ripublication.com/ijaer.htm

Simulated Study on the Effect of Camber and Toe on

the Handling Characteristics of a Car during
Cornering

T. Vijayakumara and V. Ganeshb

a Asst Professor (Senior), SMBS, VIT University, Vellore – 632014,

Tamil Nadu, India
Email: vijayakumar.t@vit.ac.in
b. Associate Professor, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering,
Tamil Nadu, India
Email: vinaganesh@svce.ac.in

ABSTRACT

The article deals with the handling characteristics of a car while cornering.
Using simple models, dynamic characteristic parameters such as lateral
acceleration, lateral forces, and yaw of a vehicle can be theoretically
formulated. A car suspension is modelled for a sedan using ADAMS/CAR and
simulated for different wheel aligning parameters like camber, toe etc. so as to
study the handling characteristics of the vehicle during cornering. From the
experimental road data, the tire model parameters (equivalent cornering
stiffness and slip angle) are extracted. These parameters are then inserted into
the theoretically formulated equations of dynamic characteristic parameters.
The results show that vehicle handling performance can be sufficiently
represented by the suggested dynamic characteristic parameters. So, it is
concluded that the proposed method has practical use for the development of
new cars or for the comparison of similar cars since the evaluations of the
vehicle handling performance can be efficiently determined by the suggested
dynamic characteristic parameters. This method has ample advantages over
real time analysis as it saves both time and cost.

Keywords: ADAMS/CAR, camber, toe, tire model parameters, vehicle

handling, cornering.

INTRODUCTION
Vehicle is a complicated system composed of several assemblies. The research on
1782 T. Vijayakumar and V. Ganesh

control method, which aims at single object of specific subsystem, has been
developed at certain extent. But how to make the subsystems work harmoniously and
reduce the interference, for the purpose of improving the multi objective performance
of vehicle, has been put into a high level estate. Handling analysis is one of the most
attractive themes in automobile engineering. Here, many suspension and tire
designers want to know how their design parameters contribute to handling
characteristics, and test drivers want to know what the sensations that they feel are
derived from. The purpose of this article is to study the possibility of using vehicle
lateral and yaw dynamics for the analysis of vehicle handling performance [1].
In ADAMS software, all the constraints among the parts of vehicle were created,
and also the spring and nonlinear damper plus the nonlinear tire model were built. The
road model used is the flat road in ADAMS.

CORNERING PROPERTIES OF TIRES

Slip Angle and Cornering Force
When a pneumatic tire is not subject to any force perpendicular to the wheel plane
(i.e., side force), it will move along the wheel plane. If, however, a side force F, is
applied to a tire, a lateral force will be developed at the contact patch, and the tire will
move along a path at an angle α with the wheel plane, as OA shown in Fig. 1. The
angle α is usually referred to as the slip angle, and the phenomenon of side slip is
mainly due to the lateral elasticity of the tire.
The lateral force developed at the tire-ground contact patch is usually called the
cornering force Fyα when the camber angle of the wheel is zero. The relationship
between the cornering force and the slip angle is of fundamental importance to the
directional control and stability of road vehicles.

Fig 1 Tire Slip

Simulated Study on the Effect of Camber and Toe 1783

For passenger car tires, the maximum cornering force may occur at a slip angle of
about 18", while for racing car tires, the cornering force may peak at approximately
6".
To develop a useful quantification of the vehicle handling characteristics, the
understeer coefficient of the vehicle will be calculated. The understeer coefficient,
Kus, is defined here as the measure of the difference between the front and rear side
slip angles of the vehicle, normalized by the lateral acceleration in g’s. where αfront
and αrear are the front and rear side slip angles, ay the lateral acceleration of the vehicle
and g is the gravitational constant.[2]

To provide a measure for comparing the cornering behavior of different tires, a

parameter called cornering stiffness C, is used. It is defined as the derivative of the
cornering force F, , with respect to slip angle a evaluated at zero slip angle.

Camber and Camber Thrust

Camber is the inclination of the wheel plane from a plane perpendicular to the road
surface when viewed from the fore and aft directions of the vehicle. Camber causes a
lateral force developed on the contact patch. This lateral force is usually referred to as
camber thrust.
To provide a measure for comparing the camber characteristics of different tires, a
parameter called "camber stiffness" is often used. It is defined as the derivative of the
camber thrust with respect to the camber angle evaluated at zero camber angle. [3]

The total lateral force of a cambered tire operating at a slip angle is the sum of the
cornering force Fyα and the camber thrust Fγγ

Handling Characteristics of Road Vehicles

The handling characteristics of a road vehicle refer to its response to steering
commands and to environmental inputs, such as wind gust and road disturbances, that
affect its direction of motion. There are two basic issues in vehicle handling: one is
the control of the direction of motion of the vehicle; the other is its ability to stabilize
its direction of motion against external disturbances.
When a vehicle is negotiating a turn at moderate or higher speeds, the four tires
will develop appropriate slip angles. The handling characteristics of the vehicle
depend, to a great extent, on the relationship between the slip angles of the front and
1784 T. Vijayakumar and V. Ganesh

rear tires. It is characterised by the term under-steer coefficient Kus. Depending on the
value of Kus the vehicle handling property can be said to be neutral steer (Kus = 0),
under-steer (Kus > 0) or over-steer (Kus < 0).

Constant Radius Test

In this test, the vehicle is driven along a curve with a constant radius at various
speeds. The steer angle or the angle of the steering wheel required to maintain the
vehicles on course at various forward speeds together with the corresponding lateral
acceleration are measured. The steady-state lateral acceleration can also be deduced
from the vehicle forward speed and the known turning radius. The handling behaviour
of the vehicle can then be determined from the slope of the steer angle-lateral
acceleration curve.
For a practical vehicle, owing to the nonlinear behaviour of tires and suspensions,
load transfer, and the effects of tractive (or braking) effort, the value of the Understeer
coefficient Kus varies with operating conditions. A curve rather than a straight line to
represent the steer angle-lateral acceleration relationship is usually obtained. It is
possible for a vehicle to have understeer characteristics at low lateral accelerations
and oversteer characteristics at high lateral accelerations [4].

TEST MODEL
The ADAMS car model, shown in fig 2, is generated with a basic suspension &
steering geometry, as per the vehicle condition. The hard points for all the turning
joints such as; the spring hanger bracket front & rear, shackle joint, pitman arm – drag
link ball joint center, sector shaft joint etc are generated.
All necessary motions, forces and constraints are incorporated in the model to
carry out required analysis. The specification of the test vehicle is given in Table 1. A
double wishbone type suspension is used in the front and rear with tie rods and
nonlinear springs and dampers. The remaining weight of the vehicle is directly give to
the centre of mass which is already determined for a particular car.

Fig 2. Full car model with front and rear suspension

Simulated Study on the Effect of Camber and Toe 1785

Test procedure:
The vehicle is driven around a track of constant radius with a small initial velocity
.The speed of the vehicle is increased at constant acceleration. The steering angle
required to maintain the turn is noted for various lateral accelerations as well as the
slip occurred at various speed. The same procedure is repeated for various wheel
geometric parameters and the changes occurring in slip, normal loads and lateral
forces at front and rear axles are noted.

Table 1- Test specifications

Test Type Constant Radius Test

Radius of Turn 50 m
Coefficient of friction of test track 1.0
Initial Speed of the car 10 kmph
Final Speed of the car 75 kmph
Engine Weight 300 kg
Aggregate mass 1527.68 kg
Wheel base 2560mm
Weight Distribution 41.5% to the Front axle.
Lateral stiffness of tyre 190 N/mm
Vertical stiffness of tyre 310 N/mm

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

Lateral force vs Slip angle
For all values of camber, the slip angle increases as the velocity increases almost
linearly to a particular point and then increases suddenly to higher values.

Fig 3. Variation of Lateral force with positive Camber angles

From fig 3 it is clear that the minimum slip is for maximum positive camber and
reduces to zero and then to negative camber. The variation of slip for large values of
1786 T. Vijayakumar and V. Ganesh

camber is more than smalll values of camber as observed in the second graph. The tyre
develops its maximum laateral force at a small camber angle, thiss is due to the
contribution of camber thrrust, which is an additional lateral force geneerated by elastic
deformation as the tread ruubber pulls through the tyre-road interface.
Due to camber thrust, maximum camber configuration will have maximumm lateral
force at the same slip anggle. As lateral force increases, slip increases up to a certain
limit

Steering angle vs lateral acceleration

Fig 4. Variation of Steerr angle with Lateral acceleration for various camber
c angles
As the lateral accelerationn increases the steering angle increases. It is observed from
the fig 4 that the larger cam
mber angles have more steering angle due to camber steer

Kus Vs Vehicle Velocity

Fig 5. Variation of Undestteer coefficient with velocity for different cam

mber values

From fig 5, it is obseerved that the vehicle is having behaviour ofo over-steer at
lower velocities and it chhanges to under-steer as the velocity increaases. The larger
values of camber have moore variations from neutral steer than zero cam
mber.
Simulated Study on the Effect of Camber and Toe 1787

Lateral force vs. Slip angle for different Toe angles

Fig 6. Lateral force vs. Slip with varying Toe Angles

From the fig 6, it is observed that for maximum toe out position, the slip angle
will be minimum, because toe out condition assists in cornering of the vehicle and
reduces net lateral force. Toe in condition causes the net lateral force to increase and
this cause an increase in the slip angle.

Lateral acceleration vs Steering angle

Fig 7. Variation of Steer angle with Lateral acceleration for various toe angles

From fig 7, it is observed that Steering angle is maximum for larger negative toe
values and is smaller for larger positive toe .

Kus vs Vehicle Velocity

From fig 8, it is observed that for positive toe value, the under-steer and over-steer co-
efficients are high and they are less for negative toe values.
 1788 T. Vijayakumar and V. Ganesh

Fig 8. Variation of Unndesteer coefficient with velocity for differentt Toe values

CONCLUSION
It is observed from the abbove test that, larger the value of camber, thhe lesser will be
the slip and steering anggle for various speeds. The values of cam mber cannot be
increased beyond a certaiin limit due to increased rate of tyre wear, bumpb steer and
torque steer which affectss the handling properties of the vehicle. Tooe-out condition
assists in steering properties during cornering and toe-in condition asssists in straight
line stability. These valuess cannot be increased beyond a limit due to tyyre scuffing and
handling related problems.

REFERENCES
[1] J. Kim, 2008, “Anaalysis of Handling performance based on sim mplified Lateral
Vehicle Dynamics””, Department of Vehicle Dynamics Researcch Team, Korea
KSAE (1229−9138//2008/043−06)
[2] Gerardo Gomez annd John M. Starkey, 2006, “Indirect Measuurement of Tire
Slip and Understeerr/Oversteer”, SAE Technical Paper Series (20006-01-3605)
[3] J.Y Wong, “Theoryy of ground Vehicles”
[4] J.R. Ellis, 1969, “Vehicle Dynamics”, Business Books London, England
E

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