Abstract
This study presents a modeling technique for representing a nonlinear hysteretic behavior of a leaf spring used for a commercial vehicle. This leaf spring model is used for a full vehicle model to analyze ride and handling characteristics of a commercial vehicle. Leaf spring is modeled using three links and shackle components. These components are assumed to be rigid in MSC.ADAMS. The links are connected by revolute joints, and at the joints torsional springs, dampers and friction elements are used to represent the hysteretic characteristics of leaf springs due to friction between leaves. The parameters are adjusted to fit the static and dynamic characteristics of the leaf spring. The hysteretic curves from the simulations are compared with those from the test. The comparison between the experiments and simulations shows a relatively good agreement in force-displacement domain.
MSC.ADAMS is used for maneuvering simulations of a commercial vehicle. Developed leaf spring model is adopted to a full vehicle model for simulations. The dynamic characteristics of a full vehicle model with leaf springs are analyzed in several simulations. The ride characteristics of a full vehicle model is simulated in the bump run maneuver, within the handling characteristics is simulated in the J-turn maneuver and the double lane-change maneuver. Simulation results showed that the hysteretic behaviors of leaf springs are well reflected. The vehicle ride and handling characteristics are analyzed in frequency and time domain using simulation results. The results of the ride and handling simulation are compared with test results.
Keywords: Hysteretic behavior, Leaf spring, Full vehicle model, Ride and handling, Dynamic analysis