High-speed tracked vehicle model order reduction for static and dynamic simulations

In this paper, a model order reduction strategy is adopted for the static and dynamic behaviour simulation of a high-speed tracked vehicle. The total number of degree of freedom of the structure is condensed through a selection of interface degrees of freedom and significant global mode shapes, for an approximated description of vehicle dynamic behaviour. The methodology is implemented in a customised open-source software to reduce the computational efforts. The modelled tracked vehicle includes the sprung mass, the unsprung masses, connected by means of torsional bars, and all the track assemblies, composing the track chain. The proposed research activity presents a comprehensive investigation of the influence of the track chain, combined with longitudinal vehicle speed, on statics and vehicle dynamics, focusing on vertical dynamics. The vehicle response has been investigated both in frequency and time domain. In this last case road-wheel displacements are assumed as inputs for the model, under different working conditions, hence considering several road profiles with different amplitudes and characteristic excitation frequencies. Simulation results have proven a high fidelity in model order reduction approach and a significant contribution of the track chain in the global dynamic behaviour of the tracked vehicle.

The Effect of Lateral Offset Distance on the Aerodynamics and Fuel Economy of Vehicle Queues

The vehicle industry is always in search of breakthrough energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies.In recent years,vehicle intelligence has progressed considerably,and researchers are currently trying to take advantage of these developments.Here we consider the case of many vehicles forming a queue,i.e.,vehicles traveling at a predetermined speed and distance apart.While the majority of existing studies on this subject have focused on the influence of the longitudinal vehicle spacing,vehicle speed,and the number of vehicles on aerodynamic drag and fuel economy,this study considers the lateral offset distance of the vehicle queue.The group fuel consumption savings rate is calculated and analyzed.As also demonstrated by experimental results,some aerodynamic benefits exist.Moreover,the fuel consumption saving rate of the vehicle queue decreases as the lateral offset distance increases.

Dynamics and Fault Diagnosis of Railway Vehicle Gearboxes:A Review

The railway vehicle gearbox is an important part of the railway vehicle traction transmission system which ensures the smooth running of railway vehicles.However,as the running speed of railway vehicles continues to increase,the railway vehicle gearbox is exposed to a more demanding operating environment.Under both internal and external excitations,the gearbox is prone to faults such as fatigue cracks,and broken teeth.It is crucial to detect these faults before they result in severe failures and accidents.Therefore,understanding the dynamics and fault diagnosis of railway vehicle gearbox is needed.At present,there is a lack of systematic review of railway vehicle gearbox dynamics and fault diagnosis.So,this paper systematically summarizes the research progress on railway vehicle gearbox dynamics and fault diagnosis.To this end,this paper first summarizes the latest research progress on the dynamics of railway vehicle gearboxes.The dynamics and vibration characteristics of the gearbox are summarized under internal and external excitations,as well as faulty conditions.Then,the stateof-the-art signal processing and artificial intelligence methods for fault diagnosis of railway vehicle gearboxes are reviewed.In the end,future research prospects are given.

Multi-Body Dynamics Modeling of Heavy Goods Vehicle-Rail Interaction

Based on the principle of vehicle-track coupling dynamics, SIMPACK multi-body dynamics software is used to establish a C80 wagon line-coupled multi-body dynamics model with 73 degrees of freedom. And the reasonableness of the line-coupled dynamics model is verified by using the maximum residual acceleration, the nonlinear critical speed of the wagon. The experimental results show that the established vehicle line coupling dynamics model meets the requirements of vehicle line coupling dynamics modeling.

Numerical Prediction of Ride Comfort of Tracked Vehicle Equipped with Novel Flexible Road Wheels

Enhancing ride comfort has always constituted a crucial focus in the design and research of modern tracked vehicles,heavily reliant on the driving system's performance.While the road wheel is a key component of the driving system,traditional road wheels predominantly adopt a solid structure,exhibiting subpar adhesion performance and damping effects,thereby falling short of meeting the demands for high-speed,stable,and long-distance driving in tracked vehicles.Addressing this issue,this paper proposes a novel type of flexible road wheel(FRW)characterized by a catenary construction.The study investigates the ride comfort of tracked vehicles equipped with flexible road wheels by integrating finite element and vehicle dynamic.First,three-dimensional(3D)finite element(FE)models of both flexible and rigid road wheels are established,considering material and contact nonlinearities.These models are validated through a wheel radial loading test.Based on the validated FE model,the paper uncovers the relationship between load and radial deformation of the road wheel,forming the basis for a nonlinear mathematical model.Subsequently,a half-car model of a tracked vehicle with seven degrees of freedom is established using Newton's second law.A random road model,considering the track effect and employing white noise,is constructed.The study concludes by examining the ride comfort of tracked vehicles equipped with flexible and rigid road wheels under various speeds and road grades.The results demonstrate that,in comparison to the rigid road wheel(RRW),the flexible road wheel enhances the ride comfort of tracked vehicles on randomly uneven roads.This research provides a theoretical foundation for the implementation of flexible road wheels in tracked vehicles.

Accurately tracking hypersonic gliding vehicles via an LEO mega-constellation in relay tracking mode

In order to effectively defend against the threats of the hypersonic gliding vehicles(HGVs),HGVs should be tracked as early as possible,which is beyond the capability of the ground-based radars.Being benefited by the developing megaconstellations in low-Earth orbit,this paper proposes a relay tracking mode to track HGVs to overcome the above problem.The whole tracking mission is composed of several tracking intervals with the same duration.Within each tracking interval,several appropriate satellites are dispatched to track the HGV.Satellites that are planned to take part in the tracking mission are selected by a new derived observability criterion.The tracking performances of the proposed tracking mode and the other two traditional tracking modes,including the stare and track-rate modes,are compared by simulation.The results show that the relay tracking mode can track the whole trajectory of a HGV,while the stare mode can only provide a very short tracking arc.Moreover,the relay tracking mode achieve higher tracking accuracy with fewer attitude controls than the track-rate mode.

Multiparameter Numerical Investigation of Two Types of Moving Interactions Between the Deep-Sea Mining Vehicle Track Plate and Seabed Soil:Digging and Rotating Motions

To ensure the safe performance of deep-sea mining vehicles(DSMVs),it is necessary to study the mechanical characteristics of the interaction between the seabed soil and the track plate.The rotation and digging motions of the track plate are important links in the contact between the driving mechanism of the DSMV and seabed soil.In this study,a numerical simulation is conducted using the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian(CEL)large deformation numerical method to investigate the interaction between the track plate of the DSMV and the seabed soil under two working conditions:rotating condition and digging condition.First,a soil numerical model is established based on the elastoplastic mechanical characterization using the basic physical and mechanical properties of the seabed soil obtained by in situ sampling.Subsequently,the soil disturbance mechanism and the dynamic mechanical response of the track plate under rotating and digging conditions are obtained through the analysis of the sensitivity of the motion parameters,the grouser structure,the layered soil features and the soil heterogeneity.The results indicate that the above parameters remarkably influence the interaction between the DSMV and the seabed soil.Therefore,it is important to consider the rotating and digging motion of the DSMV in practical engineering to develop a detailed optimization design of the track plate.

Dynamic thermo-mechanical responses of road-soft ground system under vehicle load and daily temperature variation

A complete road-soft ground model is established in this paper to study the dynamic responses caused by vehicle loads and/or daily temperature variation.A dynamic thermo-elastic model is applied to capturing the behavior of the rigid pavement,the base course,and the subgrade,while the soft ground is characterized using a dynamic thermo-poroelastic model.Solutions to the road-soft ground system are derived in the Laplace-Hankel transform domain.The time domain solutions are obtained using an integration approach.The temperature,thermal stress,pore water pressure,and displacement responses caused by the vehicle load and the daily temperature variation are presented.Results show that obvious temperature change mainly exists within 0.3 m of the road when subjected to the daily temperature variation,whereas the stress responses can still be found in deeper places because of the thermal swelling/shrinkage deformation within the upper road structures.Moreover,it is important to consider the coupling effects of the vehicle load and the daily temperature variation when calculating the dynamic responses inside the road-soft ground system.

Guaranteed Cost Attitude Tracking Control for Uncertain Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Under Safety Constraints

In this paper,guaranteed cost attitude tracking con-trol for uncertain quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle(QUAV)under safety constraints is studied.First,an augmented system is constructed by the tracking error system and reference system.This transformation aims to convert the tracking control prob-lem into a stabilization control problem.Then,control barrier function and disturbance attenuation function are designed to characterize the violations of safety constraints and tolerance of uncertain disturbances,and they are incorporated into the reward function as penalty items.Based on the modified reward function,the problem is simplified as the optimal regulation problem of the nominal augmented system,and a new Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation is developed.Finally,critic-only rein-forcement learning algorithm with a concurrent learning tech-nique is employed to solve the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equa-tion and obtain the optimal controller.The proposed algorithm can not only ensure the reward function within an upper bound in the presence of uncertain disturbances,but also enforce safety constraints.The performance of the algorithm is evaluated by the numerical simulation.

Vehicle routing optimization algorithm based on time windows and dynamic demand

To provide the supplier with the minimizum vehicle travel distance in the distribution process of goods in three situations of new customer demand,customer cancellation service,and change of customer delivery address,based on the ideas of pre-optimization and real-time optimization,a two-stage planning model of dynamic demand based vehicle routing problem with time windows was established.At the pre-optimization stage,an improved genetic algorithm was used to obtain the pre-optimized distribution route,a large-scale neighborhood search method was integrated into the mutation operation to improve the local optimization performance of the genetic algorithm,and a variety of operators were introduced to expand the search space of neighborhood solutions;At the real-time optimization stage,a periodic optimization strategy was adopted to transform a complex dynamic problem into several static problems,and four neighborhood search operators were used to quickly adjust the route.Two different scale examples were designed for experiments.It is proved that the algorithm can plan the better route,and adjust the distribution route in time under the real-time constraints.Therefore,the proposed algorithm can provide theoretical guidance for suppliers to solve the dynamic demand based vehicle routing problem.

Electric Vehicle Charging Load Optimization Strategy Based on Dynamic Time-of-Use Tariff

Electric vehicle(EV)is an ideal solution to resolve the carbon emission issue and the fossil fuels scarcity problem in the future.However,a large number of EVs will be concentrated on charging during the valley hours leading to new load peaks under the guidance of static time-of-use tariff.Therefore,this paper proposes a dynamic time-of-use tariff mechanism,which redefines the peak and valley time periods according to the predicted loads using the fuzzy C-mean(FCM)clustering algorithm,and then dynamically adjusts the peak and valley tariffs according to the actual load of each time period.Based on the proposed tariff mechanism,an EV charging optimization model with the lowest cost to the users and the lowest variance of the grid-side load as the objective function is established.Then,a weight selection principle with an equal loss rate of the two objectives is proposed to transform the multi-objective optimization problem into a single-objective optimization problem.Finally,the EV charging load optimization model under three tariff strategies is set up and solved with the mathematical solver GROUBI.The results show that the EV charging load optimization strategy based on the dynamic time-of-use tariff can better balance the benefits between charging stations and users under different numbers and proportions of EVs connected to the grid,and can effectively reduce the grid load variance and improve the grid load curve.

Review on dynamic analysis of road pavements under moving vehicles and plane strain conditions

This paper reviews works on the dynamic analysis of flexible and rigid pavements under moving vehicles on the basis of continuum-based plane strain models and linear theories.The purpose of this review is to provide in-formation about the existing works on the subject,critically discuss them and make suggestions for further research.The reviewed papers are presented on the basis of the various models for pavement-vehicle systems and the various methods for dynamically analyzing these systems.Flexible pavements are modeled by a homogeneous or layered half-plane with isotropic or anisotropic and linear elastic,viscoelastic or poroelastic material behavior.Rigid pavements are modeled by a beam or plate on a homogeneous or layered half-plane with material properties like the ones for flexible pavements.The vehicles are modeled as concentrated or distributed over a finite area loads moving with constant or time dependent speed.The above pavement-vehicle models are dynamically analyzed by analytical,analytical/numerical or purely numerical methods working in the time or frequency domain.Representative examples are presented to illustrate the models and methods of analysis,demonstrate their merits and assess the effects of the various parameters on pavement response.The paper closes with con-clusions and suggestions for further research in the area.The significance of this research effort has to do with the presentation of the existing literature on the subject in a critical and easy to understand way with the aid of representative examples and the identification of new research areas.

Effect of rail corrugation on vertical dynamics of railway vehicle coupled with a track

The effect of rail corrugation on the vertical dynamics of railway vehicle coupled with a curved track is investigated in detail with a numerical method when a wheelset is steadily curving. In the calculation of rail corrugation we consider the combination of Kalkers rolling contact theory modified, a model of material loss on rail running surface, and a dynamics model of railway vehicle coupled with a curved track. In the establishment of the dynamic model, for simplicity, one fourth of the freight car without lateral motions, namely a wheelset and the equivalent one fourth freight car body above it, is considered. The Euler beam is used to model the rails and the track structure under the rails is replaced with equivalent springs, dampers and mass bodies. The numerical results show the great influence of the rail corrugation on the vibration of the parts of the vehicle and the track, and the some characters of rail corrugation in development.

Lateral Stability Analysis of Heavy-Haul Vehicle on Curved Track Based on Wheel/Rail Coupled Dynamics

Being viewed from the standpoint of whole system, the hunting stability of a heavy-haul railway vehicle on a curved track is investigated in this paper. First, a model to simulate dynamic performance of the heavy-haul vehicle on the elastic track is developed. Secondly, the reason of the hunting motion is analyzed, and a bifurcation diagram for the vehicle on the curved track is put forward to simulate the nonlinear critical speed. Results show that the hunting motion of the heavy-haul vehicle will appear due to the larger conicity, the initial lateral shift and the wheelset angle of attack. With the hunting motion appearing, the lateral shift and force of the wheelset are changed sharply and periodically with a wave of circa 3.6 m. There is obvious difference in the bifurcation diagram between on a curved track and on a tangent track. Relative to the centerline of the track, each vehicle body on the curved track has two stable cycles. As for the curved track with a radius of 600 m and a superelevation of 55 mm, the nonlinear critical speed of the heavy-haul vehicle is 76.4 km/h.

Derailment risk and dynamics of railway vehicles in curved tracks： Analysis of the effect of failed fasteners

The effect of the fastener＇s failure in a railway track on the dynamic forces produced in the wheel-rail contact is studied using the simulation software VAMPIRE to assess the derailment risk of two different vehicles in two curves with distinct characteristics. First, a 3D-FEM model of a real track is constructed, paying special attention to fasteners, and calibrated with displacement data obtained experimentally during a train passage. This numerical model is subsequently used to determine the track vertical and lateral stiffness. This study evidences that although the track can practically lose its lateral stiffness as a consequence of the failure of 7 consecutive fasteners, the vehicle stability would not be necessarily compromised in the flawed zone. Moreover, the results reveal that the uncompensated acceleration and the distance along which the fasteners are failed play an important role in the dynamic behavior of the vehicle-track system, influencing strongly the risk of derailment.

Mathematical Models of Tire-Longitudinal Road Adhesion and Their Use in the Study of Road Vehicle Dynamics

Mathematical models of tire-longitudinal road adhesion for use in the study of road vehicle dynamics are set up so as to express the relations of longitudinal adhesion coefficients with the slip ratio. They perfect the Pacejka's models in practical use by taking into account the influences of all essential parameters such as road surface condition. vehicle velocity. slip angle. vertical load and slip ratio on the longitudinal adhesion coefficients. The new models are more comprehensive more concise. simpler and more convenient in application in all kinds of simulations of car dynamics in various sorts of braking modes.

Mathematical Models of Tire-Lateral Road Adhesion for Use in Road Vehicle Dynamics Studies

Mathematical models of tire-lateral mad adhesion for use in mad vehicle dynamics studies are set up to express the relations of adhesion coefficients with slip ratio in lateral direction.The models of tire-lateral mad adhesion revolutionize the Pacejka's model in concept and therefore make it possible for applications in vehicle dynamics studies by the expression of lateral adhesion coefficient as a function of wheel slip ratio,instead of the wheel slip angle,taking into account in the mean time the influences of mad surface condition, vehicle velocity,vertical load,tire slip angle,and wheel camber angle.

Semantic Segmentation and YOLO Detector over Aerial Vehicle Images

Intelligent vehicle tracking and detection are crucial tasks in the realm of highway management.However,vehicles come in a range of sizes,which is challenging to detect,affecting the traffic monitoring system’s overall accuracy.Deep learning is considered to be an efficient method for object detection in vision-based systems.In this paper,we proposed a vision-based vehicle detection and tracking system based on a You Look Only Once version 5(YOLOv5)detector combined with a segmentation technique.The model consists of six steps.In the first step,all the extracted traffic sequence images are subjected to pre-processing to remove noise and enhance the contrast level of the images.These pre-processed images are segmented by labelling each pixel to extract the uniform regions to aid the detection phase.A single-stage detector YOLOv5 is used to detect and locate vehicles in images.Each detection was exposed to Speeded Up Robust Feature(SURF)feature extraction to track multiple vehicles.Based on this,a unique number is assigned to each vehicle to easily locate them in the succeeding image frames by extracting them using the feature-matching technique.Further,we implemented a Kalman filter to track multiple vehicles.In the end,the vehicle path is estimated by using the centroid points of the rectangular bounding box predicted by the tracking algorithm.The experimental results and comparison reveal that our proposed vehicle detection and tracking system outperformed other state-of-the-art systems.The proposed implemented system provided 94.1%detection precision for Roundabout and 96.1%detection precision for Vehicle Aerial Imaging from Drone(VAID)datasets,respectively.

Cooperative Target Tracking of Multiple Autonomous Surface Vehicles Under Switching Interaction Topologies

This paper is concerned with the cooperative target tracking of multiple autonomous surface vehicles(ASVs)under switching interaction topologies.For the target to be tracked,only its position can be measured/received by some of the ASVs,and its velocity is unavailable to all the ASVs.A distributed extended state observer taking into consideration switching topologies is designed to integrally estimate unknown target dynamics and neighboring ASVs'dynamics.Accordingly,a novel kinematic controller is designed,which takes full advantage of known information and avoids the approximation of some virtual control vectors.Moreover,a disturbance observer is presented to estimate unknown time-varying environmental disturbance.Furthermore,a distributed dynamic controller is designed to regulate the involved ASVs to cooperatively track the target.It enables each ASV to adjust its forces and moments according to the received information from its neighbors.The effectiveness of the derived results is demonstrated through cooperative target tracking performance analysis for a tracking system composed of five interacting ASVs.

Integrated Active Suspension and Anti-Lock Braking Control for Four-Wheel-Independent-Drive Electric Vehicles

This paper presents an integrated control scheme for enhancing the ride comfort and handling performance of a four-wheel-independent-drive electric vehicle through the coordination of active suspension system(ASS)and anti-lock braking system(ABS).First,a longitudinal-vertical coupled vehicle dynamics model is established by integrating a road input model.Then the coupling mechanisms between longitudinal and vertical vehicle dynamics are analyzed.An ASS-ABS integrated control system is proposed,utilizing an H∞controller for ASS to optimize load transfer effect and a neural network sliding mode control for ABS implementation.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is evaluated through comprehensive tests conducted on a hardware-in-loop(HIL)test platform.The HIL test results demonstrate that the proposed control scheme can significantly improve the braking performance and ride comfort compared to conventional ABS control methods.