Influence of Tyre Inflation Pressure on Fuel Consumption, Vehicle Handling and Ride Quality - Modelling and Simulation

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Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master Thesis
Program
Automotive engineering (MPAUT), MSc
Publicerad
2014
Författare
Varghese, Alexander
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It is well understood that fuel economy directly influences the CO2 emissions in vehicles. Thus, a straightforward approach to reduce the tailpipe CO2 emissions is to reduce the overall fuel consumption of the vehicle. In this thesis work the role of tyre inflation pressure on the fuel economy is investigated. Apart from the benefits of reduced fuel consumption, tyre pressure also plays an important role in deciding vehicle handling and passenger comfort. Three mathematical vehicle models have been developed in the Matlab/Simulink® interface, to capture and represent the influence of tyre pressure on fuel consumption, vehicle handling and ride characteristics. The first model is a full-vehicle model developed to enable quick and reliable estimation of fuel consumption with the change in tyre pressure. The second model is a two-track vehicle model developed to study the changes in vehicle lateral behaviour when the tyre inflation pressure is changed. The third model is a half-car model that is designed to evaluate the changes in vertical acceleration response of the vehicle with change in tyre pressure. When the full-vehicle model was simulated for the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC city cycle), fuel consumption reduction up to 5 % was observed simply by increasing the tyre inflation pressures from 2 bar to 3 bar. The vehicle handling also improved considerably especially when tyre pressure was maintained higher on the outer wheels and lower on the inner wheels of the vehicle in a turn. For smooth roads found within city limits, it was observed that the tyre pressure affected the ride comfort only marginally. However as road roughness increased, the impact of tyre pressure on ride comfort also increased. Through these findings, a foundation is established for the development of a dynamic Tyre Pressure Regulating System (TPRS) that is capable of regulating the tyre pressure in all four wheels, independently and continuously.
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Transport , Farkostteknik , Transport , Vehicle Engineering
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