Simulation Study of Vehicle Handling Characteristics on Snowy and Icy Terrain

Safety is considered one of the most important parameters when designing a ground vehicle. The adverse effect of weather on a vehicle can lead to a surge in safety issues and accidents. Several safety assistance systems are available in modern vehicles, which are designed to lessen the negative effects of weather hazards. Although these safety systems can intervene during crucial conditions to avoid accidents, driving a vehicle on snowy or icy terrain can still be a challenging task. Road conditions with the least tire-road friction often results in poor vehicle handling, and without any kind of safety system it can lead to mishaps. With the use of Adams Car software and vehicle dynamics modeling, a realistic relationship between the vehicle and road surface may be established. The simulation can be used to have a better understanding of vehicle handling in snowy and icy conditions, tire-ice interaction, and tire modeling. In this work a vehicle dynamics model is created using the Magic Formula tire model for different driving scenarios in an Adams Car simulation environment. The coefficient of friction plays a major role in the virtual experiments, ranging from 0.18 to 0.28 for icy and snowy conditions, respectively. Various vehicle events involving straight line and cornering maneuvers are performed for different vehicles with All Wheel Drive and Front Wheel Drive drivelines. Factors that affect tire and ice interaction are studied, and the limitations of Adams Car are investigated.