Effective Solutions to Decreasing Load Conflicts Using 4DOF Road Test Simulators 2007-01-1350

Road test simulators are widely used for vehicle durability tests in the automotive industry. In order to develop road simulator durability tests, on-road load data is acquired. Then, the road test simulator (RTS) is set up according to the vehicle dimensions such as track, wheel base and tire rolling radius, so that the on-road load data can be dynamically replicated. The drive files, which are the time histories that control the simulator, are then developed by an iterative process. The fidelity of the resulting simulation is a function of both the simulator, including geometric and kinematic characteristics and the degree to which the drive files replicate the on-road data. However, there is often conflict between different load channels during simulation development. On a 4-degree-of-freedom (4DOF) simulator in particular, replicating both horizontal spindle loads and the camber moment about the spindle axis is frequently difficult. This paper investigates factors affecting such conflicts in 4DOF road test simulations. Solutions to reduce these conflicts in the areas of simulator setup, data processing, and iteration strategies are discussed.