56

Optimized Braking Force Distribution during a Braking-in-

Turn Maneuver for Articulated Vehicles
E. Esmailzadeh1, A. Goodarzi2 and M. Behmadi3

1,* Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, [email protected]
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2 Automotive Engineering Department Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran, [email protected]
3 Automotive Engineering Department Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran, [email protected]

Abstract
Improvement in braking performance and vehicle stability can be achieved through the use of braking systems whose
brake force distribution is variable. Electronic braking force distribution has an important and serious role in the
vehicle stopping distance and stability. In this paper a new approach will be presented to achieve the braking force
distribution strategy for articulated vehicles. For this purpose, the mathematical optimization process has been
implemented. This strategy, defined as an innovative braking force distribution strategy, is based on the wheel slips.
The simulation results illustrate proposed strategy can significantly improve the vehicle stability in curved braking for
different levels of vehicle deceleration.

Keywords: vehicle dynamics, braking force distribution, optimization, articulated vehiciles

1. INTRODUCTION systems, using sophisticated algorithms formed based

on slip control approach; the braking force distribution
In brake system design for a vehicle, the first is done intelligently leads to higher stability and
consideration should be the braking performance. The shorter stopping distance.
braking system has to be able stop or reduce the In this paper an innovative approach to formulate a
vehicle speed as quickly as possible and maintain the new braking force distribution strategy for articulated
vehicle traveling direction stable and controllable at vehicles is presented where, the mathematical
any road conditions [1]. A key aspect of good braking optimization process has been included. The
performance is that braking is balanced. This occurs optimized strategy as the other modern braking force
when each wheel brakes proportional to the weight distribution strategies, works based on wheel slip
that it carries. If this ideal is achieved then the vehicle control.
can use all the available road friction and will have the
minimum stopping distance without skidding wheels. 2. CLASSICAL BRAKING FORCE DISTRIBUTION
Wheel lock-up promotes loss of directional control,
particularly when it occurs on drive or trailer axles, Classically, for straight-line braking on a level
because the locked wheel cannot provide stabilizing surface in the absence of any aerodynamic effects,
side forces [2]. desired braking in terms of maximum deceleration is
The load sensing proportioning valve (L.S.P.V) defined as:
employed to adjusting braking force among axles to
the normal forces on those axles and closed actual Pf Pr Pt ax (1)
brake force to ideal brake force distribution. These
valves operate based on the static deflection of the rear Where af is dimensionless vehicle deceleration (g-
suspension, but they are not able to compensate for the units) and P f , P r and P t are tire-road friction
dynamic load transfer between the front and rear axles coefficient of respectively tractor front axle, tractor
[3,4]. Articulated vehicles stability, much likes for rear axle and trailer axle. For an articulated vehicle,
cars, requires that the tractor front axle locks first, and the axle loads of the tractor unit are influenced by both
followed by the trailer axle, with the tractor rear axle the loadings and braking forces of the trailer unit [7].
locking up last [5,6]. In the modern braking systems, Using the terminologies given in Figures (1) and
such as electronic brake force distribution (EBD) (2), the equations of force and moment equilibrium

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 E. Esmailzadeh, A. Goodarzi, M. Behmadi 57
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Fig. 1. Dynamic model of the tractor unit [7]

Fig. 3. Normalized dynamic axles break force for classical

distribution

classical baking force curve represents optimum

braking, i.e., a condition under which the tire-road
friction coefficient for front axle and rear axles are
equal to dimensionless vehicle deceleration.

3. MODERN APPROACH TO BRAKING FORCE

DISTRIBUTION

Fig. 2. Dynamic model of the trailer unit [7] In the modern systems, known as Electronic Brake
force Distribution systems (EBD), the brake forces are
distributed using an active electronic control system
balance yield as the dynamic axle loads. which use wheels slip feedback to control the brake
force distribution. An electronic brake force
Fzt W2 .m2  W2 .a.( x2  z 2 )  Fxt .z 2 (2) distribution utilizes the ABS hardware to function as
an “intelligent brake proportioning valve.” Unlike a
Fz r W1 .m1  W2 (1  m2 ) y  a.( W1 x1  W2 .z1
traditional mechanical proportioning valve which is
 W2 . y.( x 2  z 2 ))  Fxt ( z1  y.z 2 )
(3) limited by design to knee point and slope, the EBD
algorithm relies on closed-loop feedback to
Fz f W1 .(1  m1 )  W2 (1  m 2 )(1  y )  a (W1 x1 continuously monitor wheels slip, adjusting brake line
 W2 z1  W2 ( x 2  z 2 )(1  y ))  Fx t ( z 2  ( z1  yz 2 )) (4) pressure to the rear wheels as appropriate.
The basic idea for developing the control
In the ideal condition, namely, ax= P f, all the algorithms for a common EBD system is that the slip
available road friction is utilized and the brake forces difference between the front axle and the rear axles
are directly related to the dynamic axle loads. The should be made minimal or theoretically equal [8].
ideal brake force on each axle can be computed from
the following equations: St Sr Sf (8)
Fx f W2 1  m2  a x x2
a x (1  m1  ax1 )  a x (1  y  a x z1 ) (5) Where Sf and Sr are respectively front and rear
W1 W1 1  ax z2
tractor wheels slip and St is trailer wheel slip. The
combination of vehicle dynamic equation during
Fx r W2 1  m2  a x x 2
a x (m1  a x x1 )  a x ( y  a x z1 ) (6) braking, longitudinal load transfer equations and pure
W1 W1 1  ax z2
slip magic formula tire model [9] are considered and
solved simultaneously:
Fxt m2  a x ( z 2  x 2 )
ax (7)
W2 1  ax z2
2 u Fx f  2 u Fxr  2 u Fxt (W 1  W 2) a x (9)
The graphical representation of Equations (5), (6)
and (7) for a specific vehicle, is illustrated in figure (3) Where
in empty and laden situation. Any point on the

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 58 Optimized Braking Force Distribution during ...

be lowered as much as possible. Moreover, the tractor

rear wheel slips should always be kept lower than the
trailer wheel slips and in order to improve the vehicle
stability the trailer wheel slips should always be kept
lower than the tractor front wheel slips. For this
purpose, the optimized strategy for the brake in turn
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situation will be developed.

The constrained optimization problem could
Fig. 4. Comparison of classical brake distribution and therefore, be stated as following:
equal slips distribution
g S 2fl  S 2fr  w1 ( S rl2  S rr2 )  w2 ( Stl2  Str2 )
(11)
1
Fxi Di sin(Ci tan ( Bi S i  Ei ( Bi Si
(10) Where
 tan 1 ( Bi Si )))) f i ( Fzi , S i ) i : f , r, t

By adding the Equation 8 to Equation 9 and solve Sfl: Front left wheel slip; Sfr: Front right wheel slip
them numerically we'll figure out that the equal slip on Srl: Rear left wheel slip; Srr: Rear right wheel slip
the tractor and trailer wheels result in a braking force Stl: Trailer left wheel slip; Str: Trailer right wheel slip
distribution as same as classical distribution. It is
shown in the figure (4) that the curve of “Ideal brake And
force distribution” lays over the curve of “equal slips Fxfl  Fxfr  Fxrl  Fxrr  Fxtl  Fxtr
strategy’. (12)
 (W 1  W 2)a x 0
4. OPTIMIZED BRAKING FORCE DISTRIBUTION Where g is the objective function which must be
minimized and equation (12) indicates the constrain
It was shown that the equal slips strategy is same as equation which illustrates the unchanged deceleration
the classical braking force distribution in straight line condition. The weighting factors w1, and w2 have been
braking. But it is well known that the braking forces in used to control the amount of the tractor rear wheel
a straight line braking are different from braking slips and the trailer wheel slips relative to the tractor
forces during a turn. The Lateral tire force may front wheel slips.
decrease the tire braking force; hence braking force in Optimization procedure could be formulated by
braking-in-turn may be smaller than corresponding using the Lagrange technique. Appling optimization
value in the straight line braking. In addition to that, process and simplifying leads to the following
there is a lateral load transfer in turning maneuver equations:
causing inequality in the braking capacity of the sides’ wFxfl wFxfr
wheels of an axle then it is notable that such a strategy S fr  S fl 0 (13)
wS fl wS fr
may be able to provide minimum stopping distance
[10] but it dose not the optimum strategy from the wFxfr wFxrl
vehicle directional stability point of view. w1 S rl  S fr 0 (14)
wS fr wS rl
To improve directional stability during braking,
tractor rear wheel slip must be smaller than Trailer wFxrl wF
S rr  S rl xrr 0
wheel slip and Trailer wheel slip must be smaller than wS rl wS rr (15)
tractor front wheel slip.
So, according to the above discussion we have wFxrr wFxfl wFxfr wFxrl wFxrr
formed a new non-equal slips, optimized strategy, w2 S tl  w1 S rr (   
wS rr wS tl wS tl wS tl wS tl
based on classical constrained optimization theory. wFxtl wFxtr (16)
The proposed optimization strategy maintains the   ) 0
wS tl wS tl
braking deceleration to be unchanged when
comparing to the above traditional strategy but it will
control the wheels slips in such a way that they should

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 E. Esmailzadeh, A. Goodarzi, M. Behmadi 59

FL_Slip M
Mu=0.9
0.08 w1=1 , w2=1
0.07 ay=0
0.06 ay=0.2g
0.05 ay=0.4g

Slip
0.04 ay=0.6g
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.00
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0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

7 0.8 0.9
decelera tion (ax/g)

Fig. 6. Desired slip value for front left wheel

Fig. 5. Linear Model of Articulated vehicle [10]

0.05 TR_Slip Mu=0.9
0.05 w1=1 1 , w2=1
wFxfl wFxfr wFxrl wFxrr wFxtl wFxtr 0.04 ay=0
S tr (      ) 0.04 ay=0.2g
wS tl wS tl wS tl wS tl wS tl wStl 0.03 ay=0.4g

Slip
0.03 ay=0.6g
wFxfl wFxfr wFxrl wFxrr wFxtl wFxtr
(17) 0.02
S tl (      ) 0.02
wS tr wS tr wS tr wS tr wS tr wS tr 0.01
0.01
0.00
0 0.1 0
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

Fxfl  Fxfr  Fxrl  Fxrr  Fxtl  Fxtr deceleration (ax/g)

(18) Fig. 7. Desired slip value for trailer right wheel
 (W 1  W 2) a x 0

Based on the combined slip magic formula tire can be numerically found out.
model [9], the braking force Fx is a function of By considering specified values for longitudinal
longitudinal slip S, side slip angle D and tire normal deceleration ax and lateral acceleration ay, the
force Fz. equations (13) to (21) can be numerically solved for
Normal force of each wheel is a summation of Sfl, Sfr, Srr, Srl, Str and Stl. The optimized slips for a
static vehicle weight's term and lateral/ longitudinal specific vehicle, which brakes on a dray bend with
load transfers terms. different longitudinal deceleration and different lateral
For calculating slip angles it is considered the acceleration, have been calculated and some of them
steady state constant radius turn condition [11] as have been illustrated in the figures (6) and (7).
shown in the figure (5) and also it is assumed that the According to the figures as a general trend, for
slip angles of both wheels of each axle are equal. different deceleration values, the optimized slips of
Front, rear and trailer slip angles can be expressed left side wheels (outside wheels) are increased and the
based on lateral acceleration ay as following (The optimized slip of right side wheels ( inside wheels) are
origin for both tractor and semi trailer has located at decreased comparing to straight line braking values
the common point of the fifth wheel coupling): (ay=0). It is due to changing the normal force of each
(  L2 m v d  dL 2 m  bL 2 m  bm t f  dm t f ) wheel as a result of longitudinal/lateral load transfer.
Df  .a y
C f L2 ( a  b ) (19) The unequal distribution of left/right wheels slip of
each axle, can leads to much more negative yaw
L2 ma  dL2 m  mt fa  dmt f  L2 mv d )
moment, strengthening the under steer behavior of the
Dr .a y (20) vehicle.
L2 C r (a  b)
Also it is found out, by appropriate weighting
factors adjustment, the desired wheel slip scheme for
L2 ma  L2 md  mt fd  mt fa  L2 mv d )
Dt .a y (21) each individual wheel as a function of longitudinal
L2 C r ( a  b )
and lateral accelerations could be achieved.
Where Cf , Cr and Ct respectively are total lateral
stiffness of front and rear axles of tractor and trailer 5. SIMULATUIN
axle besides mv, mt and m are tractor mass, trailer
mass and total mass respectively. Now the optimized In order to evaluate the performance of the
braking force distribution for brake-in-turn situation optimized braking force distribution strategy a precise

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 60 Optimized Braking Force Distribution during ...
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Fig. 12. Simulated side slip angle

Fig. 8. Block diagram of the proposed EBD system

Fig. 13. Simulated tractor yaw rate

Fig. 9. Simulated longitudinal decelerationFigure10. curve, driver’s desired deceleration is calculated

Simulated lateral acceleration proportional to pedal force. In the higher level of the
control system, based on desired deceleration’s value,
estimated road friction and measured lateral
acceleration, desired slip of each wheel is calculated
based on optimized braking force distribution strategy.
The strategy is utilized in the form of pre-calculated
lock-up table. In the lower layer, the desired slips are
actualized by the slip controller unit, which can be a
common ABS control algorithms.
Fig. 10. Simulated lateral acceleration To simulate the vehicle dynamic behaviors, a 10
degree of freedom vehicle dynamic model [11] with
"Combined Magic Formula" non-linear tires model
g [9] has been used.
Also to compare the performance of different types
of control strategies, four different vehicles have been
considered:
• A vehicle without any kind of EBD system,
nominated as ‘No Control’.
• A vehicle equipped with common EBD system,
Fig. 11. Simulated articulation angle (Hitch)
nominated as ‘equal slip’.
• A vehicle equipped with proposed EBD system,
nominated as ‘optimized Slip’.
computer simulation has been performed. The The simulation study consists of braking during a
proposed strategy is considers as a part of a specific step steering. In this study, hard braking on a dry road
electronic braking force distribution (EBD) system. ( P f=0.9) has been studied. Simultaneously, 5 degrees
Figure 8 illustrates the system’s block diagram. step steer input applies to the front wheels. The initial
According to the figure, the system’s input is driver’s speed is 15 m/s.
brake pedal force. Based on pedal force–deceleration Figures (9) to (13) show the simulation results.

International Journal of Automotive Engineering Vol. 1, Number 1, January 2011

 E. Esmailzadeh, A. Goodarzi, M. Behmadi 61

According to the figure (9), the time histories of the acceleration.

controlled vehicles deceleration is approximately the The simulation results show much more stable
same. But in the case of the without control vehicle behavior for the articulated vehicle using the
due to inefficient distribution of braking force the optimized strategy during hard braking turn situation
deceleration is 15% lower, leading to longer stopping comparing to traditional equal slip strategy.
distance.
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In spite of similar longitudinal dynamics behavior, REFERENCES

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International Journal of Automotive Engineering Vol. 1, Number 1, January 2011