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Besides particulate emissions from engine exhausts, which are already regulated by emission standards, passenger car disc brakes are a source of particulate matter. With the current car fleet it is estimated that up to 21% of the total traffic related PM10 emissions in urban environments originate from brake wear and reduction of brake dust emissions is subject of current research. For the purpose of reducing brake dust emissions by choosing low-emission operating points of the disc brake, the knowledge of the emission behavior depending on brake pressure, wheel speed, temperature and friction history is of interest. According to the current state of research, theoretical white box modeling of the emission behavior is complicated due to the complexity of tribological contact between pad and disc. Thus experimental black box modeling is supposed to describe emission behavior.

During the development process of brake discs for commercial vehicles, heat cracks are a frequent problem. Since no profound model to forecast the occurrence of cracks has been presented yet, their prediction is hardly ever possible. The standardized heat crack test puts the brake disc under severe thermomechanical load and therefore forces it into cracking. In this paper, results from a series of heat crack tests on the dynamometer are presented, which provide insight into the hidden processes that accelerate or slow down the heat crack propagation in brake discs. This includes an extensive experimental setup using a thermographic camera, a set of capacitive displacement sensors, a pyrometer, and sliding thermocouples as well as a unique eddy-current heat crack detector that was developed at TU Darmstadt. Continuous monitoring of disc deformation, surface temperature, and crack propagation at high sampling rates provides the base for a new, profound causal model.

In 2012, Continental received an autonomous vehicle testing license from the US state of Nevada and has subsequently operated an automated driving vehicle on more than 15.000 miles of testing on public roads. The present paper describes the development of this vehicle by explaining the necessary system modules - structured along the signal processing chain from sensing and representing the vehicles environment up to a holistic actuator concept. Therefore, the functional specification for automated lateral and longitudinal vehicle guidance is addressed, also giving an answer on how to cope with challenging scenarios such as stop-and-go traffic and narrow road lanes. Focus is set on a hybrid environment representation, integrating model-based tracking for moving traffic participants and an occupancy grid for maneuvering space.

The objective of the presented research is to analyze the cause-and-effect chain of the emergence of tire marks and to indentify how the intensity of a friction-related tire mark on asphalt or concrete pavements can provide additional information related to forces or slips at the marking wheels. Focusing on tire marks due to abrasive wear, the influences on the intensity of tire marks are analyzed based on three categories: vehicle dynamic parameters, tire and road properties, which determine the sensitivity of tire marking for a specific tire-road combination for constant vehicle dynamic parameters; and optical parameters, influencing the contrast of a given tire mark. The analysis includes a new objective method for the assessment of the tire mark intensities derived by photos of tire marks, generated with a tire measurement trailer. Additionally a test rig was developed to determine the tire marking sensitivity with reference marks under controlled friction conditions.

The extended steady state lap time simulation combines a quasi steady state approach with a transient vehicle model. The transient states are treated as distance dependent parameters during the calculation of the optimal lap by the quasi steady state method. The quasi steady state result is used afterwards to calculate a new dynamic behavior, which induces in turn a different quasi steady state solution. This iteration between the two parts is repeated until the dynamic states have settled. An implementation of the extended quasi steady state simulation is built up to determine the capabilities of the approach. In addition to pure steady state simulation abilities, the method is able to judge the influence of the transient or time variant vehicle states on lap time. Sensitivity studies are generated to analyze the influence of basic parameters like mass, but also the influence of parameters with transient interaction like vertical damping or tire temperature.

In the research project between the Institute of Automotive Engineering (FZD) of the Technische Universität Darmstadt (TUD) and Continental Teves AG & Co. oHG a new modeling concept has been developed. With the aim to enhance the current development process, the brake caliper is modeled based on coupled rigid bodies integrated into a nonlinear system model. Using an explicit interface definition, the number of degrees of freedom is minimized and the calculation of caliper performance is possible over a wide range of parameters. Compared to models based on the Finite Element Method (FEM), fully parameterized geometry from CAD is not necessary, thus the caliper can be optimized for a variation of its geometrical and physical parameters. With this modeling approach, typical performance criteria such as caliper fluid displacement, hysteresis, uneven pad wear and residual torque can be calculated in a virtual bench test.

Cast iron/aluminum composite brake disks are increasingly being employed, as they offer improved fuel efficiency and a lower unsprung mass. The achievable mass reduction and the product costs are determined by the joining concept. This paper presents two novel lightweight composite brake disks, which are produced using two different joining methods. The connection of the first lightweight brake disk under investigation in this study is implemented by friction welding. The second brake disk uses the forming processes spinning and flow forming. The requirements regarding the design of the concepts are presented in the course of this paper. Both lightweight concepts have been validated in standardized tests on a test bench. The results of the experimental investigation are discussed regarding to the key aspects of mass reduction, thermal and mechanical behavior and production.

During light to moderate braking at high speeds the appearance of hot spots can often be observed on the brake disc surfaces. Such hot spots are mostly periodically distributed in the disc's circumference. The occurrence of hot spots leads to negative effects concerning driving comfort. This paper presents a description of the cause-and-effect chain of the mechanisms leading to the emergence of hot spots and thermal judder during the braking process.

This paper presents a control algorithm for semi-active suspensions to reduce the braking distance of passenger cars. Active shock absorbers are controlled and used to influence the vertical dynamics during ABS-controlled full braking. The core of the approach presented in this paper is based on a switching control logic which sets the car's body damping to one of the two extrema hard and soft. The control algorithm is implemented in a compact class passenger car. Test drives on a real road, using a braking machine for reproducibility reasons, have been executed. It could be shown that it is possible to reduce the braking distance by affecting on the vertical dynamics of a passenger car in general. This is the first published experimental result of its kind. The amount of reduction depends on the height profile of the testing track.

This paper is based on the experiences with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems at BOSCH. Necessary components (especially range sensor, curve sensors, actuators and display) are described, roughly specified, and their respective strength and weaknesses are addressed. The system overview contains the basic structure, the main control strategy and the concept for driver-ACC interaction. Afterwards the principal as well as the current technical limits of ACC systems are discussed. The consequences on traffic flow, safety and driver behavior are emphasized. As an outlook, development trends for extended functionality are given for the next generation of driver assistance systems.

As new smart systems for passenger cars are assisting me driver to handle manoeuvres in critical and normal situations, brake systems are required to fulfill the compatibility and interface demands. These advanced brake systems will be operated in a remote mode during normal braking and for autonomous brake interventions. BOSCH is developping a brake-by-wire system on a hydraulic basis, called ‘Electrohydraulic Brake EHB’. Brake pressure buildup is supplied by a high pressure accumulator. Generation of the high pressure is done by an electric motor driven pump, similar to current ABS-systems. Pressure at the wheel brakes is individually controlled by closed-loop pressure control, consisting out of inlet, and outlet valves, pressure sensor and corresponding algorithm. It is specified, that this control must be completely noiseless, proportional, fast, and highly accurate. To raise the acceptance of such a system, it will be introduced with a conventional hydraulic backup.