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SAE TECHNICAL
PAPER SERIES 2007-01-3666

The Co-simulation of Steering and Suspension

System with ADAMS&Matlab/Simulink
Lai Fei, Deng ZhaoXiang, Dong Hongliang and Cao Youqiang
Chongqing University, Chongqing

14th Asia Pacific Automotive

Engineering Conference
Hollywood, California, USA
August 5-8, 2007

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2007-01-3666

The Co-simulation of Steering and Suspension System with

ADAMS&Matlab/Simulink
Lai Fei, Deng ZhaoXiang, Dong Hongliang and Cao Youqiang
Chongqing University, Chongqing

Copyright © 2007 SAE International

ABSTRACT motions are defined with reference to a right-hand

Based on the tire and road model of virtual prototype,
using the co-simulation of ADAMS&Matlab/Simulink,
combining with the optimal control theory, contrastive
research is done among the system of passive
suspension and front wheel steering ǃ the simple
combination system of active suspension and four wheel
steering and the integrated system of active suspension
and four wheel steering. The theory analysis and
simulation test indicate the integrated control system can
greatly improve handling and riding performance of
vehicle.
1. INTRODUCTION
Vehicle is a complicated system composed of several
assemblies. The research on control method, which
aims at single object of specific subsystem, has been
developed at certain extent. But how to make the
subsystems work harmoniously and reduce the
interference, for the purpose of improving the multi-
objective performance of vehicle, has been put into a
high level estate.
orthogonal coordinate system (the vehicle fixed
coordinate system) which originates at the CG and
travels with the vehicle. It has some differences with the
SAE convention. The coordinates are: x—Forward and
on the longitudinal plane of symmetry; y—Lateral out the
left side of the vehicle; z—Upward with respect to the
vehicle; p—Roll velocity about the x axis; q—Pitch
velocity about the y axis; z—Yaw velocity about the z
axis. Earth fixed coordinate system: vehicle attitude and
trajectory through the course of a maneuver are defined
with respect to a right-hand orthogonal axis system fixed
on the earth. It is normally selected to coincide with the
vehicle fixed coordinate system at the point where the
maneuver is started. The coordinates are: X—Forward
travel, Y—Travel to the left, Z—Vertical travel, ȥ—
Heading angle (angle between x and X in the ground
plane), Ȗ—Course angle (angle between the vehicle’s
velocity vector and X axis), ȕ—Sideslip angle (angle
between x axis and the vehicle velocity vector).

The integrated vehicle chassis control technology

considers the vehicle as an undivided system. Active
suspension combined with 4WS act as complement for
each other. Virtual prototype is a main tool to simulate
the complicated system, based on the tire model and
road model, and it can simulate the actual driving
condition on real road accurately. The co-simulation of
ADAMS and Matlab/Simulink is used to simple the
process of building model, and it also can solve the
problem from the concerted role between the
mechanical system and control system.

2. BUILDING THE ACTIVE SUSPENSION AND 4

WHEEL STEERING MODEL

2.1 .THE BUILDING OF 14 DOF MODEL

Figure 1 14 dof vehicle model (a)
Coordinate system: Vehicle fixed coordinate system is
fixed on the unsprung mass. On board, the vehicle
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3˅Torques about the x-axis:

I xc p  Ms[(E  r)V  hp ]h  I xzr

0.5d (Cs1l ( zs1l  zu1l )  Cs 2l ( zs2l  zu 2l )
 Ks1l ( zs1l  zu1l )  Ks 2l ( zs 2l  zu 2l ))
 0.5d (Cs1r ( zs1r  zu1r )  Cs 2r ( zs 2r  zu 2r ) (5)
 Ks1r ( zs1r  zu1r )  Ks 2r ( zs 2r  zu 2r ))
 0.5d (u1l  u2l  u1r  u2r )  MshgI  wrx

4˅Forces in the z-direction:

ms zs  Cs1l ( zs1l  zu1l )  Cs1r ( zs1r  zu1r )

 Cs2l ( zs 2l  zu 2l )  Cs 2r ( zs 2r  zu 2r ) 
Ks1l ( zs1l  zu1l )  Ks1r ( zs1r  zu1r )  (6)
Ks2l ( zs 2l  zu 2l )  Ks2r ( zs2r  zu 2r )
Figure 2 14 dof vehicle model (b)  u1l  u1r  u2l  u2r 0

5˅Torques about the y-axis:

I yT L1(Cs1l (zs1l  zu1l )  Cs1r (zs1r  zu1r )

 Ks1l (zs1l  zu1l )  Ks1r (zs1r  zu1r ) u1l u1r ) (7)
 L2(Cs2l (zs2l  zu2l )  Cs2r (zs2r  zu2r ) 
Ks2l (zs2l  zu2l )  Ks2r (zs2r  zu2r ) u2l u2r ) 0

6˅The unsprung mass’s motion in z-direction:

muijzuij  Csij (zsij  zuij ) 

Ksij (zsij  zuij )  Ktij (zuij  wij )  uij 0 (8)

As pitch angle T and roll angle I are small, the follow

equation can be achieved:
Figure 3 14 dof vehicle model (c)
­ z s1l z s  L1T  0 .5 d I
2.2 THE UNIFORM DYNAMICAL MODEL OF ACTIVE °
° z s1 r z s  L1T  0 .5 d I
SUSPENSION AND 4 WHEEL STEERING
® (9)
° z s 2l z s  L 2T  0 .5 d I
1˅Torques about the z-axis: ° z s 2r z s  L 2T  0 . 5 d I
¯

I z r  I xz p l1Fy1l cosG1l  l1Fy1r cosG1r 2.3 VIRTUAL PROTOTYPE MODEL

 l2 Fy 2l cosG 2l  l2 Fy 2r cosG 2r  wrz
(1) The front suspension of the vehicle is McPherson
independent suspension and steering, rear suspension
2˅Forces in the y-direction: is dependent suspension. In order to make all the
wheels steer, some modifies must be done to the rear
(M  Ms )(r  E)V  Ms [(E  r)V hp] suspension system. According to the needs of rear
Fy1l cosG1l  Fy1r cosG1r  Fy2l cosG2l (2) suspension guide mechanism, that is when the vehicle’s
 Fy2r cosG2r  wy load varies, the wheel tread varies little and the wheel
leans inversely to the body to reduce the over steer
effect, double wishbone suspension is used in rear
Considering the steering angles are small, so it can be suspension system.
regarded as follow: cos G 1l 1 ˈ cos G 1r 1 ˈ
cos G 2l 1 ˈ cos G 2 r 1 .And Eq.(1) and Eq.(2) can be In ADAMS software, all the constraints among the parts
transformed as follow˖ of vehicle have to be created, and we also build the
spring and nonlinear damper plus the nonlinear tire
model. The road model used is the flat road in ADAMS.
Izr  Ixz p l1Fy1l  l1Fy1r  l2Fy2l  l2Fy2r  wrz (3) So far the virtual prototype model including the
suspension system and 4 wheel steering system has
(M  M s )(r  E )V  M s [(E  r )V  hp ] (4)
been finished.
Fy1l  Fy1r  Fy 2l  Fy 2r  wy
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Figure 5 the co-simulation block diagram

Figure 4 front and rear suspension
3. THE DESIGN OF LINEAR QUADRIC OPTIMAL
CONTROLLER
The active suspension system’s optimal control problem
is: under the situation of the initial condition and
system’s parameters known, the task is to find the best
controller which can make the performance to reach
minimum or maximum. The linear dynamical character
can be described in state space equation as follow:
­ X AX  BU  EW
®Y CX  DU  FW
¯
4. THE SIMULATION AND THE ANALYSIS OF
THE RESULT
Using the side wind test and the action area is 36 meter
along the drive direction, which is used to simulate the
side wind disturb. In this paper, the vehicle’s velocity is
19.44 m/s, and at about 8s, 500 N is applied to the CG
of the vehicle. After the vehicle’s entrance, we fix the
steering wheel. In this test, some data has been
recorded to evaluate the performance of the model, such
as yaw velocity, roll angle and the vehicle’s track.
(10)

A, B, C, D, E and F are coefficient matrixes, U is control

vector, W is external perturbation and X is state vector.
The main job is to find the optimal control method U
under above restraint equations, which can make the
follow performance function reach minimum. E[] is the
average value of function.

f
J E[ ³ (Y T QY  U T RU )dt ] (11)
0

Figure 6 the simulated side wind

The specific method is to use the care function in
Matlab to solve the Riccati equation. And the call
format is:

[ P, L, G, RR] CARE ( A, B, Q, R, S , E ) (12)

After that we can get the optimal control signal Uopt and
the system’s response.

To assure the accuracy of the virtual prototype model,

first we compare the responses of mathematic model
and virtual prototype model in passive system which
includes passive suspension and front wheel steering.
Under the situation of the same results of the two
models, using the design optimal controller, we can co-
simulate the virtual prototype model. Figure 7 the yaw velocity of passive system
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Figure 8 the roll angle of passive system
Figure 9 the yaw velocity of simple system and integrated
system
Figure 10 the roll angle of simple system and integrated system
Figure 11 the track of passive, simple and integrated system
The performance of simple system and integrated
system, such as yaw velocity and roll angle, is much
better than that of the passive system. The y-direction
displacement of simple system and integrated system is
46.5%, 38.9% of that of passive system. Also, the
performance of integrated system is better than that of
simple system.
5. CONCLUSION
This paper is based on the uniform model of mathematic
model and virtual prototype model, and then designs the
quadric optimal controller. By the simulation of three
different systems (passive system, simple system and
integrated system), we can find the integrated system of
the vehicle has enhanced the ability to resist the external
disturb, making the driving easier.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank the Chongqing National
Scientific Programme (8718) “The Basic Research of
Automobile Power and Traction System Integrate
Control” for financial support.
REFERENCES
1. S.M.EI-Demerdash and A.M.Selim. Vehicle Body
Attitude Control Using an Electronically Controlled
Active Suspension. SAE paper,1999-01-0724
2. Felipe V. Brandao and Mark N.Howell. Genetic
Learning Automata and Fuzzy Controller. SAE
paper,2003-01-0133
3. T.Yoshimura, K.Nakaminami. Active suspension of
passenger cars using linear and fuzzy-logic controls.
Control Engineering Practice 7(1999) 41-47
4. Jun Wang, David A.Wilson. Active Suspension
Control to Improve Vehicle Ride and Steady-State
Handling. Proceedings of the 44th IEEE Conference
On Decision and Control, and the European Control
Conference 2005