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Engineering Online

MAE 515 Advanced Automotive Vehicle Dynamics

3 Credit Hours

A duel-level course designed for seniors and first year graduate students. This course of advanced automotive vehicle dynamics begins with entire vehicle dynamic analysis, including acceleration, braking, aerodynamics, steering, rollover, and extends to vehicle component dynamics, including tire, drive train, steering, suspension, and vehicle vibration.

Prerequisite

Undergraduate course in Engineering Dynamics (MAE 208) or equivalent. Please contact the instructor for exemptions and consent.

Course Objectives

Provide discussion to the modeling of vehicle dynamics including motion and force analysis for multiple- degree of freedom vehicle systems. After completing this course, students are expected to be able to:

  • Demonstrate a skill to apply basic theories to establish useful models for either the entire vehicle or components of the vehicle
  • Interpret the properties of critical factors in vehicle motion control
  • Apply the models established from basic theories for vehicle design and improvement
  • Identify key components and their working principles of modern vehicles
  • Identify the technology improvements in vehicles in the last several decades
  • Identify technologies critical to next-generation vehicle designs based on literature reviews and actual test data
  • Relate the course materials to daily driving experience of a vehicle, in particular those related to driving safety

Tentative Course Schedule

Lecture weeks (two 75 minute lectures per week) Topics
Week 1: Course Syllabus and Policies; Introduction: history, vehicle classifications, fundamental approaches to vehicle dynamics modeling, motion analysis, force analysis, and energy analysis.

Week 2-3: Acceleration Performance: power train components; power-limited acceleration; traction limited acceleration; transverse weight shift; front wheel drive vs rear wheel drive vs. all-wheel drive vehicles.

Week 4-5: Braking Performance: braking force analysis; brake design and analysis; federal regulation on braking performance; anti-lock braking system; wheel lock-up; tire/road friction; safety and maintenance issues in braking.

Week 6: Road Loads: wind drag and car body design, rolling resistance; breakdowns of total road loads; gas mileage analysis and driving styles.

Week 7-9: Tire and Tire Dynamics: tire specifications and constructions; tire motion analysis; tire force analysis; tire contact stress analysis; tire vibration analysis; tire wear and maintenance.

Week 9: Mid Term Examination

Week 10: Ride: riding comfort; perception of vibration; vibration sources; vibration transmission to the passengers; vibration models; vibration isolation techniques.

Week 11-12: Cornering/steering: lower speed cornering; high speed corner; cornering bicycle model; steering angle; suspension roll and cornering performance; over-steering vs. under-steering; cornering force analysis.

Week 13-14: Suspension Systems: general kinematics; vehicle constraint analysis; practical designs; active suspension systems.

Week 15: Future trends in vehicle design.

Final Exam (per University Final Exam Calendar).

Course Requirements

Homework Assignments: 20% For on-campus students, homework assignments should be submitted in the beginning of the class on the scheduled due day, collected either by the instructor or the studio. For off-campus students, homework assignments can be submitted electronically to: Homework_EOL@ncsu.edu before 12:00 AM (midnight) on the scheduled due day. Make sure that the cover page contains the course number, instructor’s name, number of the assignment, the date the video is viewed, and the corresponding due date.

Examinations: One midterm exams (25%), one term report (25%) and a Final Exam (30%.)

Software Requirement: Access to standard engineering software (MATLAB, Excel, etc.) MATLAB is accessible through the Virtual Computing Lab.

PROJECTS: None.

Textbook & References

Textbook: Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics, Thomas D. Gillespie, SAE, 1992, ISBN 1-56091-199-9

Reference books:
Vehicle Dynamics, Theory and Application, Reza N. Jazar, Springer, 2009, ISBN 978-0-387-74243-4, e-ISBN 978-0-38774244-1

Race Car Vehicle Dynamics, W.F. Milliken and D.L. Milliken, SAE, 1995, ISBN 1-56091-526-9

Verified 4/16/2020