ITEC Asia-Pacific 2014 1569887149

Motion Simulation and Optimization Design of

Double-Front Axle Steering System Based on
ADAMS
Liang Li, Chengning Zhang, Zhifu Wang, Mingchun Liu, Jianjun Shi
National Engineering Laboratory for Electric Vehicle, Beijing Institute of Technology , Beijing 100081, China
power0420@163.com

Abstract- Aiming at the problem that the steering tires were

x
seriously wore on a 8×8 in-wheel motor driven vehicle, a model 11
of McPherson suspension and double-front axle steering system
was established by ADAMS. Considering the influences on L1 21
steering errors caused by wheel jump and using parametric V
analysis method, the error accumulation between theoretical L2
12
value and actual value of steering angle, and the sum of
31
variation of toe-in angle were added up for forming the objective o
optimization function. The simulation and optimization results 22
indicate that this design improves the steering performance and 41
reduces the motion interference between the suspension and
steering linkage.
32

C
Key Words- Double-front axle steering; Macpherson suspension;
Optimization design; Virtual prototype modeling
42
I. INTRODUCTION
y
For a vehicle, the handing stability and comfort level
δ1
depend on the design of steering system in a large part. It’s β1
more important for an 8×8 in-wheel motor driven vehicle δ2
β2
equipped with double-front axle steering linkage. There’s an
8×8 in-wheel motor driven vehicle which has some problems o’
in testing phase. For example, its steering radius can not meet Fig. 1. Relationship between ideal steering angle of inner and outer
the reserve requirement and the tires wear seriously. wheels on a vehicle with dual-front axle steering system
Without changing the structure of steering system, a space
kinematic model of double-front axle steering system is
= = (3)
established by using ADAMS to make sure that the design is
reliable and its movement is close to the real vehicle at the That is
most extent. Parametric analysis method is used for motion
simulation and optimization design of the steering linkage[1]. = arctan[ ] (4)
Considering that the 8×8 vehicle often drives on the road with
poor driving conditions, wheel jump and body roll will have a = arctan[ ] (5)
great influence on steering and toe-in angle changing Above all, δ1,δ2,β1 and β2 are on behalf of the steering
characteristic. So, in this paper, the author has a further angle of wheel 12, 11, 22 and 21; L1 is the distance between
research on the influence of wheel jump to the design of the first axis and the center axis of the two rear axles; L2 is
steering system, and do the multivariate and multi-objective the distance between the second axis and the center axis of
optimization for the steering system. the two rear axles; The axes of the master pins on two side of
one axle have two cross points with the ground, and H is the
II. DOUBLE-FRONT AXLE STEERING THEORY distance between the two points.
A. Kinematic Analysis of Double-front Axle Steering Linkage B. Analysis of The Steering Performance
For a vehicle with 4 axles, all its wheels should have the The above expressions are implicit to describe the steering
same rotation center to make sure that all the wheels are pure performance, so they should be transformed to the style that
rolling (or have a few slip)[2]. the virtual prototype can identify. The formulas (1), (2), (4)
cot − cotδ = C/L (1) and (5) can be transformed into:
cot − cotβ = C/L (2) = arccot(cot + ) (6)
The wheels on the same side but in different axles should
meet the follow expression, = arctan{ tan arccot + } (7)

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1
 Through the formulas (4), (5), (6), (7) and the given δ 1, Fig. 3 is the structure of steering system, and all the parts
the theoretical values of the corresponding δ2,β1 and β2 can be are as follows:1, 2, 12 and 13 represent steering knuckles; 5
determined. The actual values of δ2,β1 and β2 can be represents transition rod; 6 and 9 represent longitudinal
measured by the virtual prototype model in ADAMS/VIEW. rotation arms; 7 and 8 represent hinges; 3, 4, 10 and 11
The theoretical value and the actual value will be compared to represent track rods.
draw the conclusion. The motion relationship of steering linkage is as follows:
the steering drag link( not drawn up, it has the same role as to
C. Movement Interference of Suspension and Steering Linkage
the torque exerted to the left longitudinal rotation arm in the
The 8×8 in-wheel motor driven vehicle researched in this
axis of its hinge) draws the left longitudinal rotation arm to
paper is equipped with Macpherson independent suspensions
move around its hinge’s axis, then the transitional rod is
in its two front axles( steering axles). The motion interference
drawn with translational motion. Through the left and right tie
between suspension and steering linkage are as follows: on
rods of the first axle, the transitional rod can draw the left and
one hand, the steering wheels use the guide bar system of the
right steering knuckles with a certain angle. Through the tie
front suspension to make sure that the wheels and body have
rods of the second axle, the longitudinal rotation arms can
the certain relative motion relationship; on the other hand, the
draw the steering knuckles with a certain angle as well.
driving link between the steering linkage and the steering
wheels make the wheels and body have another relative B. Model of Suspension and Steering Linkage
motion relationship[3]. The two motion relationships’
interference performances in the the additional steering angle
of steering wheels[4]. The additional angle is the variation of
toe-in angle.
In conclusion, the design of double-front axle steering
linkage should not only make the motion relationship of
steering wheels meet the Ackerman principle but also make
sure that there is a least motion interference between
suspension and steering linkage when the tire has a normal
jump. In other words, the variation of toe-in angle should be
the minimum when steering, based on minimizing the
steering angle error.

III. VIRTUAL PROTOTYPE MODEL OF DOUBLE-

FRONT AXLE STEERING SYSTEM Fig. 4. The virtual prototype model of suspension and steering linkage

A. Structure of Macpherson Suspension and Steering System The rigid bodies in the model are as follows: steering
knuckle assembly(steering knuckle arm and axle); tire; spiral
spring shock damper; low control arm ; tie rod; transition rod;
longitudinal rotation arm, etc. The constraints in the steering
trapezium are as follows: the revolution joint between the
longitudinal rotation arms and body; the revolution joint
between the longitudinal rotation arms and transition rod; the
ball friction coupling between the longitudinal rotation arms
and tie rods of the second axle; the ball friction coupling
between the transition rod and tie rods of the first axle; the
ball friction coupling between the tie rods and steering
Fig. 2. Schematic of suspension and steering linkage
knuckle arms. The wheel jump is driven by the reciprocating
The structure of Macpherson suspension is shown as Fig. 2.
drive in a straight line at four wheel centers.

IV. PARAMETER OPTIMIZATION ANALYSIS OF

DOUBLE-FRONT AXLE STEERING LINKAGE
A. Definition of Design Variables
The suspension design will not be optimized because of its
fixed parameters. According to the requirements of
optimization design and the structure of steering linkage
showed in Fig. 3, 10 design variables are determined as in the
Fig. 3. Model of dual-front axle steering linkage
table I.

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2
 TABLE I (X) = M
LIST OF VARIABLES

Symbol Definition
r1 Length of left tie rod in the first axle = ( ) − + −
r2 Length of right tie rod in the first axle
b Length between two centers of spherical
C
hinge on the transition rod + cot − cotδ −
m1 Length of left longitudinal rotation arm’s L
first part
m2 Length of right longitudinal rotation arm’s C
first part + cot − cotβ =
L
n1 Length of left longitudinal rotation arm’s
second part
n2 Length of right longitudinal rotation arm’s = ( )( + + + )
second part
Ф1 Angle between the first part and second part
of left longitudinal rotation arm =∫ ( )
，
(9)
Ф2 Angle between the first part and second part
of right longitudinal rotation arm
k1 Length of left tie rod in the second axle where, w(δ1) is a weighting function. To indicate that
different steering angle δ1 has different impact, the weighting
k2 Length of right tie rod in the second axle
function can be defined as
Remarks: the length of two-force bar is the distance
1.5，( ≤ ≤ 10°)
between its two endpoints; the longitudinal rotation arm is cut
off for two parts at the hinge of the body, the first part in front = 1.0，( 10° < ≤ 20°) (10)
and the second part in rearwards. 0.5，(20° < ≤ )
The design variables can be expressed as
X=[ r1, r2, b, m1, m2, n1, n2, Ф1, Ф2, k1, k2 ]T (8) b) Function Description of Motion Interference Between the
After defining the design variables, the coordinates of Suspension and Steering Linkage
points should be parameterized to be convenient for The assumptions are as follows: toe-in angle of the first and
simulation and optimization. second axles is zero when steering angle input is zero; toe-in
angle will not change with the change of steering angle input
B. Definition of Objective Function when there is a fixed wheel jump in the same axle.
a) function description of steering character In the process of steering with wheel jump, the cumulant of
The purpose of optimization design is to make the actual toe-in angle’s change in the first and second axles can be
values close to the theoretical values as much as possible, and expressed as
it can be extended to making the actual values meet the ( )= = ( λ) λ − λ λ
theoretical function equations.[5] It has been known that the
theoretical equations describing double-front axle steering are +∫ ( λ)(λ − λ ) λ (11)
expressed as where, λ1、λ2 are toe-in angles of the first and second
axles when there is a wheel jump, and λ01、λ02 are toe-in
= = , angles when the vehicle is static. w(△λ) is a weighting
cot − cotδ = C/L , function which has the same effect on the first and second
axles. To embody that different wheel jump△λ(△λis the
cot − cotβ = C/L . absolute value of λ1-λ01 or λ2-λ02) has difference effect
From the first part of this paper, it can be known that, in the on the change of toe-in angle, the value of w(△λ) can be
above equations, L1/L2, C/L1 and C/L2 are all known expressed as
quantities determined by parameters of the vehicle, and they 1.5，(0 ≤ ≤ 10)
can be taken as the theoretical values; (tanδ1)/(tanβ1),
(tanδ2)/(tanβ2), (cotδ2—cotδ1) and (cotβ2—cotβ1) are all ( ) = 1.0，( 10 < ≤ 20) (12)
collected by ADAMS/VIEW, and they are taken as the actual 0.5，(20 < ≤ 35)
values. Above all, specific to steering character, the objective In conclusion, the objective function can be expressed as
function M can be expressed as F(X) = μ [F (X)] + μ [F (X)] (13)

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3
where, μ 1 、μ 2 are weighting coefficients to measure the
effect of steering performance and suspension ’ s motion
interference to steering. μ1，μ2≥0, andμ1=0.8，μ2=0.2
in here.
wheel in second axle changing with the inner wheel in first
axle. It can be seen obviously that the curves are closer to the
Ackerman curve of steering angle after optimization.
30

Steering angle of outer wheel in 1st axleδ1/

c) Mathematical Modeling
Before optimization
Parameters of the vehicle’s steering linkage are defined as After optimization
25
the initial values of design variables(see tableⅡ). The initial Theoretical values
values±5% are taken as the range of optimal values.
20
Above all, considering wheel jump, the mathematical
model of double-front axle steering linkage can be expressed

（°）
as 15

Min F(X) = min { w [ F (X)] + w [ F (X)]} (14)

10
and the constraint conditions are expressed as
S. t. =
5
( )= ( − 95% )( − 105% ) ≤ 0
⎧
⎪ ( )= ( − 95% )( − 105% ) ≤ 0
⎪
( )= ( − 95% )( − 105% )≤0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Steering angle of inner wheel in 1st axleδ1/（°）
⎨ ( ) = (Ф − 95%Ф )(Ф − 105%Ф ) ≤ 0 Fig. 5. the relation curve of the inner and outer steering wheels in first axle
⎪ ( )= ( − 95% )( − 105% ) ≤ 0 before and after optimization
⎪

Steering angle of inner wheel in 2nd axleδ2/(°)

30
⎩ ( )= ( − 95% )( − 105% ) ≤ 0
(15) Before optimization
25 After optimization
where, r0i 、b0 、m0i 、Ф 0i 、n0i 、k0i are respectively the Theoretical values
initial values of ri、b、mi、Фi、ni、ki (i=1,2).
20
TABLEⅡ
VALUES OF PARAMETERS OF DOUBLE-FRONT AXLE STEERING
LINKAGE BEFORE AND AFTER OPTIMIZED 15

Parameters Before After

optimization optimization 10

r1 (mm) 646 658

5
r2 (mm) 646 658
b (mm) 862.4 832
m1 (mm) 324.3 330 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
m2 (mm) 324.3 330 Steering angle of inner wheel in 1st axleδ1/（°）
n1 (mm) 286 270 Fig. 6. the relation curve of the inner steering wheels in first and second
n2 (mm) 286 270 axles before and after optimization
Ф1 (°) 150.2 158.2
Steering angle of outer wheel in 2nd axleδ2/(°)

30
Ф2 (°) 150.2 158.2
k1 (mm) 635 630 Before optimization
25 After optimization
k2 (mm) 635 630 Theoretical values

20
V. SIMULATION ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION DESIGN
15

The simulation optimization analysis is done to the virtual

10
prototype model by using ADAMS/VIEW. Within the limits
of constraint conditions, there are a set of parameters which
5
can make the objective function minimum(see tableⅡ). Then,
the model is modified according to the optimized parameters.
The comparison of simulation results between the initial 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
model and the modified model can be seen in Fig.5~9. Steering angle of inner wheel in 1st axleδ1/（°）
Fig. 5~7 show the relation curves of the outer wheel in the Fig. 7. the relation curve of the inner steering wheel in first axle and the
first axle, the inner wheel in the second axle and the outer outer steering wheel in second axle before and after optimization

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4
 first and second axles when the steering wheels have a jump
0.30 of ±80mm. It can be seen that the variation range of toe-in
angle in the first and second axles have a significant reduction
Before optimization
The values of Objective function F(X)

0.25 After optimization after optimization.

VI. CONCLUSIONS
0.20
The model of double-front axle steering system is built by
using ADAMS. Then, considering the motion interference of
Macpherson suspension and steering linkage, the design of
0.15
steering system is optimized, aiming at the integrated target to
optimize Ackerman steering performance and variation
0.10
characteristic of toe-in angle in two front axles. The results
show that the motion performance of steering system and
0.05
variation characteristic of toe-in angle are improved greatly
after the optimization.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Steering angle of inner wheel in 1st axleδ1/（°）
Fig. 8. the relation curve of the objective function’s values changing with the The deepest gratitude is expressed to all the members of
steering angle of inner wheel in first axle before and after optimization
our research group and all the people helped us in this paper’s
writing process.
0.6
1st axle before optimization This paper is supported by supported by the overall
0.5 2nd axle before optimization
1st axle after optimization technology with in-wheel motor drive system and two
0.4 2nd axle after optimization
projects, matching method and comprehensive control
0.3
strategy research on double-motor coupling driving system
0.2
for pure exectric bus(National Natural Science Fundition
0.1
Project and grant No. 51175040) and matching method and
Toe-in angle/（°）

0
coupling research on double-motor coupling driving system
-0.1
for pure exectric bus(the Doctoral Program of the Ministry of
-0.2
Education and grant No. 20111101110037).
-0.3

-0.4 REFERENCES
-0.5 [1] Zhen Jian-rong. ADAMS: introduction and improvement of virtual
-0.6 prototype technology [M]. Beijing:China Machine Press, 2002.
[2] Liu Wei-xin. Automobile design [M]. Beijing: Tsinghua University
-0.7
Press, 2001.
-0.8 [3] Zhou Bing, Yang Fan, Xu Qi. Optimization design of steering linkage
based on ADAMS [J]. Journal of Hunan University(Natural Sciences),
-150 -120 -90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90 120 150
2008,35(12):23-26.
Quantity of wheel jump/mm
[4] Guo Kong-hui. Vehicle manipulation dynamics [M] . Changchun :Jilin
Fig. 9. the changing curve of toe-in angle with the change of quantity of
Science Technology Press ,1991 :206 - 221.
wheel jump before and after optimization [5] Tang Ying-shi, Li Ke, Huang Zi-qiang. Spatial optimization design of
Fig. 8 shows that the values of the objective function F(X) double-front axle steering linkage [J]. Automotive technology,
have a significant reduction. 2006,8:22-25.
Fig. 9 shows that the change trend of toe-in angle in the

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