The Effects of Tire Cornering Stiffness on Vehicle Linear Handling Performance

Author(s): X. Xia and J. N. Willis

Source: SAE Transactions , 1995, Vol. 104, Section 6: JOURNAL OF PASSENGER CARS:
Part 1 (1995), pp. 505-514
Published by: SAE International

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44612222

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 950313

The Effects of Tire Cornering Stiffness on

Vehicle Linear Handling Performance
X. Xia and J. N. Willis
General Tire, Inc.

ABSTRACT effective steering bandwidth. Using the effective time constants

and the values of steady state yaw gain obtained from the
In this paper, the effects of tire cornering stiffness onsubjective
vehicle test data, Weir [2] gave a boundary of satisfactory
vehicle
frequency responses have been investigated. The high handling response. However, the author did not give a
speed
force and moment test data of four different groups of tiresmethod how to compare the vehicle handling performance if the
were
collected. These tires had different constructions and wide two points were located inside this boundary.
ranges of cornering stiffness. The tire nonlinear lateral force
and aligning moment were modeled using the Pacejka Magic Vehicles always have time delays in lateral acceleration and
Formula tire model. yaw rate response to steering input. The driver must adopt phase
lead in his steering control to compensate for such delays in
Based on a full nonlinear vehicle model, vehicle linear vehicle response. Since this compensation requires additional
handling performance was simulated with the above tires during work from the driver, it is desirable that the delay in vehicle
pulse steer and step steer maneuvers. To evaluate the vehicle steering response be minimized. According to test results of
linear handling performance, the following vehicle dynamic closed loop driver/vehicle performance, Nakaya [3] found that
parameters were selected: sideslip angle, yaw rate peak time, smaller values of phase lag for both yaw rate and lateral
phase lags of yaw rate and lateral acceleration, yaw rate gain, acceleration led to dramatic improvements in vehicle
yaw damping ratio and natural frequency. The sideslip angle controllability. Based on subjective test results of course-
and yaw rate peak time were obtained from the vehicle responses tracking and lane-change maneuvers, Nakaya further indicated
to a step steer input. The other parameters were derived by that the smaller the phase lag difference between the lateral
fitting the frequency response functions of yaw rate and lateral acceleration and yaw rate responses, the better the subjective
acceleration during a pulse maneuver to a two degrees of evaluation of vehicle handling by the driver. Therefore, phase
freedom linear "bicycle model." lags of yaw rate and lateral acceleration and also phase lag
difference between the two could be used as indicators of vehicle
Two main conclusions have been drawn from this linear handling performance.
preliminary study: (1) higher tire cornering stiffness results in
Early research work [4,5] showed that vehicle sideslip angle
better vehicle linear handling performance; (2) different methods
of evaluation give similar rating of the tires. had a strong correlation to the vehicle subjective rating. The
vehicle with a smaller steady-state sideslip angle had the better
INTRODUCTION handling performance. Lincke [4] found the highest correlation
between subjective rating and the product of steady-state sideslip
The relationship between tire/vehicle linear handling
angle and yaw rate peak time.
performance and vehicle dynamics parameters has been actively
studied for many years in the automobile industry. Early Recently,
studies Mimuro et al [6] developed a new technique called
[1,2] suggested that two dynamic parameters played athe four parameter evaluation method for investigating vehicle
central
role in characterizing vehicle handling performance: (a)linear handling qualities. This method was based on evaluation
steady
state gain between yaw rate and steering input, and (b) of the steady state yaw rate gain, the natural frequency, damping
effective
time constant, characterized by the point at which 45 ratio for the yaw rate frequency response, and the phase lag of
-degree
the lateral
phase shift occurs in the yaw rate response to steer input. The acceleration frequency response at 1 Hz. These four
effective time constant was a direct measure of the driver lead parameters were displayed in a rhombus configuration. The area
equalization required, and gave a measure of the vehicle's of the rhombus denoted vehicle handling potential. Using this

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method, the authors in [7,8] evaluated the vehicle handling
performance and the influence of tire characteristics.
Most vehicle dynamic parameters used by previous
investigators were all more or less interchangeable
representations of the basic differences between the vehicle
linear handling performance. For tire design engineers, the
knowledge about how tire force and moment properties affect
vehicle linear handling performance will be very useful. From
the tire/vehicle modeling point of view, little work has been
done in this field. During vehicle linear handling, tire slip angle
is relatively small. Therefore, tire cornering stiffness is a key
parameter to describe tire force and moment properties. In this
paper, a preliminary study has been conducted to investigate the
effects of tire cornering stiffness on vehicle linear handling
tires at the front and rear of the vehicle into equivale
located at the car center line. In this model, the ve
considered as a linear time-invariant system. The
included are lateral velocity and yaw rate of the vehicle wi
assumption of constant forward speed. This model
described by transfer functions of the lateral acceleration
yaw rate, and they are listed in the Appendix.
The nonlinear vehicle model was built by a multi
dynamics software package. This model included no
steering system, full suspension geometry, nonlinear sus
force, and tire nonlinear force and moment. The mode
statically and dynamically validated in the time domain
PULSE STEER INPUT

performance using different evaluation methods.

Historically, a vehicle's linear handling performance was
TIRE MODEL AND CORNERING STIFFNESS evaluated using three different types of steering input: (a)
random steer, (b) a sinusoidal swept steer, and (c) a pulse stee
The tire force and moment model used in this study Awassteering
the input signal must have sufficient power over th
Magic Formula developed by Pacejka et al [9]. This model
frequency range of interest to excite all the rigid body mod
this range
accounts for the nonlinear dependence of the tire lateral force is up to about 2 or 2.5 hz.
and aligning moment on slip angle, longitudinal slip, camber
angle and normal load. Based on relaxation length, a first-orderThe random steer or swept steer input contains frequenci
over the frequency range of interest (usually between about 0
lag was applied to tire lateral force. In this study, four different
and 3 Hz).
groups of tires were selected, as listed in Table 1, and tested on However, they require long time histories to get va
a high speed tire test machine at 55 mph. The smoothed results.
test dataThe pulse input is analogous to an impact with a sh
duration.
of lateral force at zero camber and longitudinal slip are shown in Heydinger et al. [11, 7] conducted an extensi
comparisons
Figure 1 for these tires. A set of coefficients for lateral force and of pulse input and swept steer for generati
simulated
self-aligning torque was generated by fitting the tested force and and experimental frequency responses. They foun
moment data to the Magic Formula. The coefficients were
that pulse input provided frequency response data comparable
thosetire
implemented to vehicle modeling through the Pacejka obtained by swept steer.
model.
In this study, a pulse steer input, as shown in Figure 2, w
Without driving/braking torque, cornering stiffness ofselected
lateral to obtain the vehicle frequency domain analysis. Th
peak value of handwheel steer angle was about 70 degre
force and aligning torque are the only two parameters required
during the pulse resulting in a 0.3 to 0.4 g's peak later
to describe tire lateral force and aligning moment characteristics
since tire slip angle is relatively small during a vehicleacceleration.
linear The duration of the pulse was selected as 0.4 se
handling maneuver. The research results in [8] indicate Such duration was sufficiently short so that all the rigid bo
that the
modes of interest were excited.
effects of aligning torque on vehicle linear handling performance
are minor compared to lateral force cornering stiffness.
SIMULATION RESULTS
Therefore, only cornering stiffness of lateral force was examined
in this investigation.
The vehicle yaw rate and lateral acceleration responses to
pulse of
The cornering stiffness was obtained by linear regression steer input were obtained using the nonlinear ve
model.
lateral force at the range of ± 2 degree of slip angle with zero The vehicle responses were comparable to the
longitudinal slip. The cornering stiffness for each tire vehicle
is listedsince the model included full kinematic effects of
suspension
in Table 1 at zero camber angle and 4448 N load. The tires were system and tire load transfer. The vehicle respo
ranked from 1 to 4 according to the cornering stiffness.suchThe
as yaw rate and lateral acceleration to the pulse steer i
were simulated for four different groups of tires, as show
higher value corresponds to the higher cornering stiffness.
Figures 3 and 4. These time domain responses were proce
VEHICLE MODEL with a FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) software to obtain yaw
and lateral acceleration frequency response functions. As
example,
Two different vehicle models were employed in this study:the vehicle yaw rate frequency response function
different
(1) a nonlinear vehicle model, and (2) the well-known twotires is shown in Figure 5. Based on these tran
degree-of-ffeedom (DOF) linear "bicycle model". functions, three different methods were employed to evaluat
effects of tire cornering stiffness on the vehicle's linear han
The two DOF linear "bicycle model" lumps the leftperformance.
and right

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 PHASE LAG METHOD - The test results [3] indicated that
smaller values of phase lag for both yaw rate and lateral
acceleration led to dramatic improvements in vehicle handling
qualities. In addition, the smaller the phase lag difference
between the lateral acceleration and yaw rate responses, the
better the subjective evaluation of the vehicle.
Based on the vehicle frequency response functions, the phase
lag of yaw rate or lateral acceleration was calculated by locating
the frequency (Hz) at which the yaw rate or lateral acceleration
response phase curve crossed 45 degrees. The phase lags and
the phase lag differences between yaw rate and lateral
acceleration are summarized in Table 2.
The sluggish tires, group A, has the largest values of yaw rate
and lateral acceleration phase lags, 0.158 and 0.262 sec.,
respectively, while the D group of high performance tires has the
lowest phase lags, 0. 1 1 7 sec. and 0. 1 73 sec. Similarly, A group
tire has the largest phase lags differences (0.104 sec.), but D-tire
has smallest (0.056 sec.). As shown in Figure 6, as cornering
stiffness increases, both phase lags and phase lag difference
decrease. The lower phase lag indicates that a vehicle will
respond faster to the driver's steering input. As indicated in
Table 2, phase lags of yaw rate and lateral acceleration give the
responsiveness, Ķ, denotes "directional damping", and ф denote
"following controllability".
A larger value of Gļ indicates that a higher yaw rate i
obtained for a given steering input. A larger value of o)n mean
better handling performance since the yaw rate response time o
the vehicle will be smaller. A small value of phase lag, ф, for
lateral acceleration response is favorable for vehicle handling
performance [3]ģ Therefore, the larger the area of the rhombu
formed by these four parameters the better the vehicle handlin
performance.
The four parameters described above were obtained by fitting
the vehicle frequency response functions to the two DOF linear
"bicycle model" described in the Appendix. As shown in Figure
8, the yaw rate frequency response function of the nonlinear
vehicle model fit the two DOF linear model very well. The four
parameters are listed in Table 4. The differences among the
damping ratio are minor for four different tires. The higher
value of the rank indicates the larger area of the rhombus. As
showed in Figure 8, D-tire has the largest area of the rhombus,
while A-tire has the least. Therefore, the vehicle equipped with
D-tire will have better handling performance than with other
tires.

same order of rank as the phase lag differences. The higher rank
in Table 2 means lower phase lag and phase lag difference, and SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
results in better vehicle handling performance.
Four different groups of tire were tested, and the corn
"VEHICLE CHARACTERISTIC" METHOD - Lincke [4] stiffness of lateral force was calculated. The vehicle resp
found that the highest correlation coefficients existed between to the pulse steer and step steer inputs were simulated usin
the "vehicle characteristic" and subjective rating. The "vehicle Magic Formula tire model and the nonlinear vehicle m
characteristic" was defined as the product of yaw rate peak time Based on the vehicle responses to pulse steer and step
and steady-state vehicle sideslip angle during a step steer input. inputs, the following dynamic parameters were selected: s
A smaller value of "vehicle characteristic" indicated a better angle, yaw rate peak time, phase lags of yaw rate and lat
subjective rating. Based on the tested data, Lincke showed the acceleration, yaw rate gain, yaw damping ratio and n
vehicle with a smaller yaw rate peak time as better since it frequency.
responded to the driver's steering input faster. In addition, the
vehicle was judged favorable if it required a relatively small The effects of tire cornering stiffness on vehicle linear
sideslip angle during step steer driving. handling performance were investigated by three different
evaluation methods: (a) Phase lag, (b) "Vehicle characteristic",
The nonlinear vehicle model was simulated for four different and © Four parameter evaluation. The two major findings may
tires during a step steer input which resulted in approximately be summarized as follows:
0.3g lateral acceleration. The yaw rate peak time and steady-
state sideslip angles were obtained from the vehicle responses. (1) Higher tire cornering stiffness results in better vehicle
The "vehicle characteristic" with four different tires are linear handling performance;
compared in Table 3 and Figure 7. The high performance tire,
group D, has the lowest yaw rate peak time and steady-state (2) Different methods of evaluation give similar rating for the
sideslip angle, and the highest rank. But group A has the highest tire.

yaw rate peak time and steady-state sideslip angle, and the
lowest rank. From tire/vehicle modeling point of view, this preliminary
study tried to establish the relationship between tire cornering
stiffness and vehicle linear handling performance. The results
FOUR PARAMETER EVALUATION METHOD - The four could provide useful information for tire design engineers.
parameter evaluation methods is based on evaluation of the
steady state yaw rate gain, G,, the natural frequency, con damping
ratio, £, and the phase lag of the lateral acceleration frequency
response function at 1 Hz, ф. As described in [6], the parameter
Gb denotes "handling easiness", con, denotes "heading

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REFERENCE Table 2. Phase

1. McRuer, D., R. Klein, " Effects of Automobile Steering

Tire Phase Lag Phase Lag Rank
Characteristics on Driver/Vehicle Performance for Regulation
Tasks", SAE Paper 760778, 1976. yaw Rate Lateral Acc. Difference
(sec.) (sec.)
2. Weir, D. H., R. J. DiMarco, "Correlation and Evaluation of
Driver/Vehicle Directional Handling Data", SAE Paper 780010,
1978. A -tire 0.158 0.262 0.104 1
В -tire 0.132 0.205 0.073 2
С -tire 0.123 0.191 0.068 3
3. Nakaya, H., Y. Oguchi, " Characteristics of the Four- Wheel
D -tire 0.117 0.173 0.056 4
Steering Vehicle and its Future Prospects", International Journal
of vehicle Design, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1987.

4. Lincke, W. et al., "Simulation and Measurement of Driver

Vehicle Handling Performance", SAE Paper 730489, 1973. Table 3. "Vehicle Characteristic"

5. Jaksch, F. O., "Driver- Vehicle Interaction with Respect to

Steering Controllability", SAE Paper 790740, 1979. Yaw Rate Steady State "Vehicle Rank
Tire Peak Time Sideslip Angle Characteristic"
6. Mimuro, T. et al., "Four Parameter Evaluation Method of (sec.) (deg.) (sec*deg)
Lateral Transient Response", SAE Paper 901734, 1990.

A -tire 0.44 0.90 0.396 1

7. Vedamuthu, S., E. H. Law, "An Investigation of the Pulse
В -tire 0.40 0.72 0.288 2
Steer Method for Determining Automobile handling Qualities",
SAE Paper 930829, 1993. С -tire 0.36 0.62 0.223 3
D -tire 0.28 0.59 0.165 4
8. Schroder, C., S. Chung, " Influence of Tire Characteristic
Properties on the Vehicle lateral Transient response", Presented
at The Tire Society 13th Annual Meeting, Akron, OH, March,
1994. Table 4. Four Parameters

9. Bakker, В., H. В. Pacejka, and L. Lidner, " A New Tire Model

with an Application in Vehicle Dynamics Studies", SAE PaperTire Gļ o)n Ķ ф Rank
890087, 1989. (deg/sec/ 1 00 deg) (Hz) (deg)

10. Xia, X., E. H. Law," Linearized Analysis of Front and Four

A -tire 19.32 0.74 0.60 -72.0 1
wheel Steering Automobiles: Understeer, Oversteer, and
В -tire 22.06 0.90 0.65 -68.9 2
Handling Qualities", ASME, AMD- Vol. 108, Transportation
System, 1990. С -tire 22.67 0.97 0.66 -66.5 3
D -tire 21.60 1.03 0.65 -62.7 4
11. Heydinger, G. J., et al., " Pulse Testing Techniques Applied
to Vehicle Handling Dynamics", SAE Paper 930828, 1993.

Table 1. Tire Cornering Stiffness

Tire Cornering Stiffness Rank

(N/deg)

A - tire -769 1
В -tire -1068 2
С -tire -1177 3
D -tire -1191 4

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 APPENDIX

Transfer Functions for 2DOF Vehicle Model

Yaw Rate:

r 1 + T S
- = G

5 i A
f

Lateral Acceleration:

Y 1 + T1 + T S 2
5f x 1 A
- = V G, 1

Where:

T =
ml 21 lo 2
C L x G) 2
af n СО
n

- ml V2
- 1 z x

2 2 '
соHL2C .С (1+KV v )
af ar v x

y 7 V 2 2
- =

n 2 z v ar af ' 4 ar r af - f J
n L2C JC (1+KV )
af ar x

il v

1 V 2 LC 1 2
T = - ; T =

x or L ( 1 + К V )
x

К = 21 22(li-
тт hh ' С 'af
af С- /il) /

r: yaw rate
Y : lateral acceleration
ôf : front wheel steering angle
Vx : vehicle longitudinal speed
If : distance from the car cg to the front axle
lr : distance from the car eg to the rear axle
L: If + lr , wheelbase
Iz: yaw moment of inertia about the car eg
Caf: front cornering stiffness for per axle
Car: rear cornering stiffness for per axle

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 6 т I I I I I I I I

i 2 -
<w 0 7~7.
w A-tire

jP
-2

- - - D-tire 4.

- : I

-6

-12 -8 -4 0 4 8 12
Slip Angle (deg.)

Figure 1. Lateral Forc

80

i=ipy
1 "==Ü==
-20

0 12 3 4
Time (sec

Figure 2. P

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 20,0

15.0

$ 100
î
Ì

я - - - D-tire I в
. И

oo ■ /

.5.0

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

Time (sec.)

Figure 3. Yaw Rate Response to Pulse Steer Input

0.50

0.40

? 0.30

3 ~ A-tire Ё/>ь'
e - ....

I 0.20

| 0.10

0.00 - -/

-0.10 I

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

Time (sec.)

Figure 4. Lateral Acceleration Response to Pulse Steer Input

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 M 40 Г - I - i - - i - i

^ :

I 30 í

с : - <- - - C-tire

О 0 - - - -

20 E - - lili

_ 0 1

,80 :

-Ю0 E - I - lili

0.1 1.0
Frequency (

Figure 5. Yaw

О О yaw rate
Q 30 _ B- - - lateral acceleration
A-tire

0 0.25 -
So ^ ^ ^ B-tire
*
«0.20-
~ - Я C"tire
8 A-tire E D-tire
Oi

S 0.15 - Oi R-tire ^ ^ ^
0.10 - D-tire

0.05

650 750 850 950 1050 1150 1250 1350

Cornering Stiffness (N/deg.)
^ - - i-- - - i^- - - - - - - - - - i

Figure 6. Phas

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 0.5

'S*
'S A-tire
и л л
0 0.4 л л -

S ^^^^^^IJ-tire
1 0,3 "
jj ^^^^C-tire
I 0.2 - '
> Щ-tire

' 650 750 850 950 1050 1150 1250 1350

Q ' i

Cornering Stiffness (N/deg.)

Figure 7. "Vehicle Characteristic" vs. Tire Cornering Stif

M 40.0 г - - liii

« :
'a

I 30.0 :

8 20.0 - - - - - ' - -

» Fitted with 2DOF Modell

^ 10.0 : - - - - Simulation -
о o.o
tt
1 -
1111
- 1111
П 1 1 I

20 E - - liii

If .20 j
тз ^

1¡T -40 :

g -60 i
.80 =

.100 E - - 1111

0.1 1.0
Frequency

Figure 8. Ya

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 S natural frequency (Hz)
,<Í-Í44N'
¿У /Оч-Ч
ss / /Оч-Ч '>чч
"s

X jíř хЧ4 v lateral acceleration

yaw rate X gam ^ X '/'s' v
.i' у - VÍ Xphase lag (deg)
/X у N'n'

3° ^90^^^ -60
I <C С - I

A-tire 5
- - - - C-tire ^

1.0 1

Figure 9. Four Parameter Rhombuses

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