Validation of Lateral Forces in a Winter Driving Simulator

摘要

A full vehicle dynamics simulator was constructed in SimCreator for the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) Instrumented Vehicle (CIV) and was used to investigate and validate the newly developed Vehicle Terrain Interaction (VTI) code. The VTI code allows the vehicle to accurately simulate driving on various types of terrain surfaces such as mud, snow, ice, and pavement. The validation effort within this paper is focused on lateral forces under winter conditions. Validation of the lateral forces was accomplished by comparing the lateral forces from the simulator to those from actual field tests. Previous lateral force simulations used friction circle equations, which significantly under-predicted the winter condition lateral forces, thus restricting the simulator's ability to duplicate experimental maneuverability tests. The current simulation effort uses a lateral force equation specific to winter conditions, and expands the winter capabilities of the simulator. The VTI code is a program called by the tire component of the simulator, which allows it to be utilized in different tire or vehicle models. This code provides the Army with a valuable asset that will allow simulation of existing or conceptual, manned or autonomous ground vehicle performance for acquisition, planning or training.