ARTICLE IN PRESS

JSAE Review 24 (2003) 477–481

Development of an in-wheel drive with advanced

dynamic-damper mechanism
Go Nagaya, Yasumichi Wakao, Akihiko Abe
Advanced Tire Technology Development Department, Bridgestone Corporation, 3-1-1 Ogawahigashi-Cho, Kodaira-Shi, Tokyo, Japan
Received 20 January 2003; received in revised form 7 March 2003

Abstract

The in-wheel drive system improves energy efficiency as well as expanding the interior space, because it has no drivetrain.
However, this system increases the unsprung mass, and thus causes problems in tire road holding performance and ride quality
evaluation. To overcome these disadvantages, we developed an advanced dynamic damper mechanism.
r 2003 Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. and Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction that sufficient power to control a vehicle can be taken

In order to solve environmental problems and energy
problems, development of the electric vehicle, which
features environmental friendliness and high energy
efficiency, has been furthered in recent years.
The in-wheel drive electric vehicle (IWD-EV), which
was first developed in the 18th century and equipped
with a motor for every wheel, raises energy efficiency by
eliminating the power train.
Since an IWD-EV does not have a drivetrain in the
body, its space efficiency is high. Moreover, since the
inertia of the rotation portion becomes small, it
improves the energy efficiency and the acceleration
response, and further, IWD-EV makes it possible to
raise safety by wheel-independent drive control.
However, the structure of the IWD-EV increases the
unsprung mass because of the motor mass. Vibration of
the unsprung mass became large and this creates the
problem that tire road holding performance and ride
quality evaluation became significantly worse. There are
very few examples of adoption to a commercial car
because of this performance aggravation.
In this paper, a means to improve the tire road
holding performance and ride quality evaluation of
IWD-EV was examined.
2. The index of tires to evaluate tire road holding
performance and ride quality evaluation
out.
In the case that the unsprung mass of a vehicle
increases, the delay of the unsprung mass following the
uneven surface of a road becomes large on the rough
road. Then, the distance between the wheel and road
surface, i.e., the amount of vertical deformation of a tire,
changes greatly. Consequently, the tire that acts as an
air spring produces large tire contact force fluctuation
according to the amount of vertical deformation of a
tire [1].
Moreover, the relation between the cornering force of
a tire and tire contact force is nonlinear. Therefore, the
average value of a tire cornering force decreases as
shown in Fig. 1 in the case that the tire contact force
fluctuation becomes large [2].
From the above, as the amount of tire contact
force fluctuation of a tire becomes smaller, tire road
holding performance can be made higher and the
cornering force of a tire can be enlarged. Accordingly,
we used two indexes in this paper: (1) tire contact force
fluctuation to evaluate tire road holding performance,
(2) an acceleration of sprung mass for the ride quality
evaluation.
3. Examination of a method to improve a tire road
holding performance
3.1. A vibration model of vehicles

In any running situations, it is important for a tire Vibration model of both the conventional electric
that it is always grounded on the road surface so vehicle (Conv-EV), which included the motor in the

0389-4304/$30.00 r 2003 Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. and Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0389-4304(03)00077-8 JSAE20034535
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
478 G. Nagaya et al. / JSAE Review 24 (2003) 477–481

600
Conv-EV
1000
IWD-EV

Tire contact force

cornering force (N)

fluctuation (N)
400

500 200

0
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 Frequency (Hz)
Tire contact force (N) Fig. 3. Tire contact-force fluctuation with IWM.
Fig. 1. Tire non-linear behavior of cornering force.
Table 1
Parameters for calculation of Fig. 3
x2
m2 Vehicle type parameter Conv-EV IWD-EV
Sprung-mass (body)
m1 (kg) 40 70
k2 c2 m2 (kg) 370 340
k1 (N/m) 360,000 360,000
x1 k2 (N/m) 32,000 32,000
Unsprung-mass c1 (N/(m/s)) 50 50
m1
(tire, wheel, etc) c2 (N/(m/s)) 1496 1496
k1 c1
x0 Road surface
the unsprung mass in order to decrease the tire contact
Fig. 2. Vibration model of Conv-EV and IWM-EV.
force fluctuation of IWD-EV to that of Conv-EV, Conv-
EV with the light unsprung mass from the start can
sprung mass, and an IWD-EV are described as 2 degrees improve performance.
of freedom system, as shown in Fig. 2, and the tire
contact force Ft is calculated from the following 3.3. Application of a dynamic damper
equations:
m1 x. 1 þ Fn þ Ft ¼ 0; ð1Þ In order to decrease tire contact force fluctuation of a
vehicle, there is a method of a dynamic damper. In this
m2 x. 2 þ c2 ðx’ 2  x’ 1 Þ þ k2 ðx2  x1 Þ ¼ 0; ð2Þ method a weight (damper mass) is connected to a target
mass, whose vibration must be reduced, through a
Ft ¼ k1 ðx1  x0 Þ þ c1 ðx’ 1  x’ 0 Þ; ð3Þ spring and a damper. When it is applied to the vehicles,
the unsprung mass is equipped with a weight as shown
Fn ¼ k2 ðx1  x2 Þ þ c2 ðx’ 1  x’ 2 Þ; ð4Þ
in Fig. 4.
m1: unsprung-mass, m2: sprung-mass, k1: spring con- The vehicle-vibration model in this case is 3 degrees of
stant of tire, k2: spring constant of suspension, c1: freedom system, and is expressed by the following
damping constant of tire, c2: damping constant of equations:
suspension, Ft: tire contact force fluctuation, Fn:
m1 x. 1 þ Ft þ Fn þ Fd ¼ 0; ð5Þ
vibratory input to the body.
m2 x. 2 þ c2 ðx’ 2  x’ 1 Þ þ k2 ðx2  x1 Þ ¼ 0; ð6Þ
3.2. Tire contact force fluctuation of IWD-EV
m3 x. 3 þ c3 ðx’ 3  x’ 1 Þ þ k3 ðx3  x1 Þ ¼ 0; ð7Þ
A calculated frequency characteristic of a tire contact
force fluctuation when Conv-EV and IWD-EV run on
Ft ¼ k1 ðx1  x0 Þ þ c1 ðx’ 1  x’ 0 Þ; ð8Þ
an uneven road are shown in Fig. 3. Here, the motor
mass of both Conv-EV and IWD-EV was assumed to be
Fn ¼ k2 ðx1  x2 Þ þ c2 ðx’ 1  x’ 2 Þ; ð9Þ
30 kg as shown in Table 1.
Since the unsprung mass of IWD-EV is heavy
Fd ¼ k3 ðx1  x3 Þ þ c3 ðx’ 1  x’ 3 Þ; ð10Þ
compared with Conv-EV, tire contact force fluctuation
at the resonant frequency of unsprung mass between 10 m1: unsprung-mass, m2: sprung-mass, m3: damper-mass,
and 16 Hz increases. Although it is necessary to decrease k1: spring constant of tire, k2: spring constant of
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G. Nagaya et al. / JSAE Review 24 (2003) 477–481 479

Damper- Table 2
mass Sprung- Parameters for calculation of Fig. 5
x3 x2 mass Vehicle type Conv-EV IWD-EV IWD-EV with
m3
m2 (body) parameter dynamic-
damper
k3 c3 c2
k2 m1 (kg) 40 70 70
Unsprung-
mass m2 (kg) 370 340 340
x 1 (tire, wheel, m3 (kg) — — 30
m1 motor
motor, k1 (N/m) 360,000 360,000 360,000
c1 etc) k2 (N/m) 32,000 32,000 32,000
k1 k3 (N/m) — — 41,000
x0 c1 (N/(m/s)) 50 50 50
Road surface
c2 (N/(m/s)) 1496 1496 1496
Fig. 4. Vibration model of IWM-EV with dynamic-damper. c3 (N/(m/s)) — — 1000

Conv-EV Damper-mass
IWD-EV
600 IWD-EV+Dynamic-Damper (motor)
Tire contact force

x3
fluctuation (N)

m 3 motor x2 Sprung-mass
400 m2
(body)
k3 c3
200 k2 c2

Unsprung-mass
0 m1 x 1 (tire,wheel, etc)
0 5 10 15 20 25
Frequency (Hz) c1
k1
Fig. 5. Tire contact-force fluctuation with dynamic-damper. x0
Road surface
Fig. 6. Vibration model of advanced-dynamic-damper-motor-EV.

suspension, k3: spring constant of dynamic damper, c1:

3.4. The proposal of a dynamic damper type In-wheel
damping constant of tire, c2: damping constant of
drive
suspension, c3: damping constant of dynamic damper,
Ft: tire contact force fluctuation, Fn: vibratory input to
Fig. 6 shows the dynamic damper type in-wheel drive
the body, Fd: damping force by dynamic damper.
as which the motor itself is operated as a dynamic
The tire contact force fluctuation of IWD-EV with the
damper by attaching the motor in the unsprung mass
dynamic damper is shown in Fig. 5. Table 2 shows the
through a spring and damper of exclusive use.
parameters for the simulation.
This structure enables the unsprung mass almost
In this simulation, both the motor mass and the
equivalent to Conv-EV, and the dynamic damper effect
dynamic damper mass of IWD-EV are 30 kg. Conse-
by addition of the damper mass of 30 kg enables better
quently, near the resonance of unsprung mass, the tire
performance than conventional IWD-EV without the
contact force fluctuation of IWD-EV with a dynamic
increase in vehicles gross mass. We call this system
damper decreases greatly compared with that of IWD-
‘‘Advanced-Dynamic-Damper-Motor’’ (ADM), and an
EV without the dynamic damper.
ADM electric vehicle ‘‘ADM-EV’’.
However, since it is necessary to fit a damper whose
The tire contact force fluctuation of ADM structure
mass is no less than 30 kg [per wheel] in order to
was calculated using the value of Table 3. The result is
demonstrate such a performance, gross vehicles mass
shown in Fig. 7.
will increase by the damper mass.
It turned out that the tire contact force fluctuation
However, from the point view of unsprung mass, it is
near the resonance of unsprung mass was reduced
reasonable that the lighter unsprung mass enables high
compared with Conv-EV as well as IWD-EV.
performance.
Even if a conventional IWD-EV is fitted with a
damper mass, it is difficult to demonstrate road holding 4. The performance check by experiment vehicles
performance equivalent to Conv-EV.
Then we developed a structure, which enables In order to test the performance of the above-
equivalent tire road holding performance to Conv-EV mentioned ADM, motors for ADM and experiment
without increase of unsprung mass. vehicle ADM-EV were made. The tire contact force
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
480 G. Nagaya et al. / JSAE Review 24 (2003) 477–481

Table 3
Parameters for calculation of Fig. 7

Vehicle type parameter Conv-EV IWD-EV ADM

m1 (kg) 40 70 40
m2 (kg) 370 340 340
m3 (kg) — — 30
k1 (N/m) 360,000 360,000 360,000
k2 (N/m) 32,000 32,000 32,000
k3 (N/m) — — 41,000
c1 (N/(m/s)) 50 50 50
c2 (N/(m/s)) 1496 1496 1496
c3 (N/(m/s)) — — 1000

Conv-EV
600 IWD-EV
ADM-EV
Tire contact force
fluctuation (N)

400

200 Fig. 8. Structure of ADM prototype.

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 2000
Tire Contact force fluctuation

Frequency (Hz)
0
Fig. 7. Tire contact-force fluctuation with ADM.
(N)

-2000
fluctuation and the vertical acceleration of sprung mass
were measured when running over the uneven test -4000
Conv-EV
IWD-EV
course of our company. The outline structure of ADM ADM-EV
is shown in Fig. 8. -6000
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
4.1. ADM structure time (s)

Fig. 9. Tire contact-force fluctuation for cleat test.

The motor for ADM is an outer rotor direct drive
type of hollow form so that the existing parts, such as
the brake, do not need to be removed. 250 Conv-EV
IWD-EV
This motor was attached to the knuckle through the ADM-EV
Tire contact force

200
flucutuation (N)

spring and the damper. Flexible coupling between the

motor and the wheel transfer the driving torque 150
smoothly. Moreover, the structural characteristic that
100
the hollow form of the motor makes the stator case, that
is an exothermic exposed part, enables an air-cooling 50
system.
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
4.2. The examination method
Frequency (Hz)

Test vehicles specifications are shown in Table 3.
Figs. 9 and 10 show the time dependence and the
frequency characteristic of tire contact force fluctuation
respectively when the vehicles passed through the test
road where projections with a height of 10 mm and a
width of 20 mm were located in a line at intervals of 5 m.
Tire contact force fluctuation was calculated by sum-
ming up the values that multiply the measured accel-
eration by the mass of each part:
Ft ¼ m1 x. 1 þ m2 x. 2 þ m3 x. 3 ?
Fig. 10. Frequency characteristics of contact-force fluctuation for cleat
test.
4.3. A result
4.3.1. Tire road holding performance
Tire contact force fluctuation of ADM-EV has small
amplitude compared with Conv-EV and IWD-EV.
Further, the tire contact force fluctuation near the
resonance of unsprung mass was reduced. This result
ð11Þ was also confirmed in Fig. 9, in which the convergence
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G. Nagaya et al. / JSAE Review 24 (2003) 477–481 481

Conv-EV 3 Conv-EV

Vertical Acceleration (m/s2)

4 IWD-EV IWD-EV
2.5
ADM-EV ADM-EV
Vertical Acceleration (m/s2)

2
2
1.5

1
0
0.5

0
-2
0 5 10 15 20 25
Frequency (Hz)
-4
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 Fig. 13. Vertical acceleration at motor.
time (s)

Fig. 11. Vertical acceleration at body. shown in Fig. 13. Compared with Conv-IWD, the
vibratory input to the motor of ADM-EV was small.
0.4 Conv-EV From the viewpoint of load, the motor of ADM-EV
Vertical Acceleration (m/s2)

IWD-EV does not support the vehicle’s weight, which was

0.3 ADM-EV supported only by the wheel. This feature also has an
advantage in durability.
0.2

0.1
0 motor as a damper mass to the unsprung mass.
0 5
Fig. 12. Frequency characteristics of vertical acceleration at body.
of response of ADM-EV was smaller than other
vehicles.
4.3.2. Ride quality evaluation
Time dependence and the frequency characteristic of
acceleration of sprung mass are shown in Figs. 11 and
12, respectively.
Compared with Conv-EV and Conv-IWD, the
amplitude of the acceleration of sprung mass of
ADM-EV after running over the projection was small.
The convergence of ADM-EV was rapid, as shown in
Fig. 11. Fig. 12 shows that the resonance of unsprung
mass, which is the frequency band that is felt as the
hardness of a tire, was reduced.
4.3.3. Vibratory input to the motor
The frequency characteristic of the vibratory accel-
eration of the motor part measured simultaneously is
5. Conclusion
1. We developed an ADM structure, which utilized the
10 15 20 25
2. ADM structure reduced the tire contact force
Frequency (Hz)
fluctuation near the resonance of unsprung mass,
and enabled high road holding performance.
3. ADM structure decreased the vibration of sprung
mass, and improved ride quality evaluation.
4. ADM made the motor free from vehicle weight, and
reduced the vibratory input to the motor.
Since this in-wheel drive system was the first prototype
production, weight reduction was not taken into
consideration. Further improvement in functional
structure simplification, weight reduction, etc., are
expected in the future.
References
[1] Kayaba Industry Co., Ltd. The suspension of a car, Sankaido,
1991.
[2] Toshimichi Takahashi, Tire dynamics and the cornering character-
istic at the time of an un-flat way run, 1994 JSAE Symposium
(9414), No. 9435261, 1994, pp. 36–42.