Linear Analysis of the Effect of Tire Dynamics on the Overall Vehicle Performance

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the frequency response of rigid and articulated vehicles subjected to a steering input. In particular, the effect of tire dynamics is considered in detail. Tire delays in lateral force generation can be modeled by adopting first or second order transfer functions. The paper compares the structure of the overall transfer functions simulating the entire vehicle. The results related to three alternative linear vehicle models are presented, in order to draw some objective conclusions about the real effect of relaxation length at low and average velocities.