Development and investigation of a three-dimensional vehicle model for the study of advanced Maps of Achievable Performance (MAPs)

This work consists of the study and development of a three-dimensional vehicle model with 9 degrees of freedom, which is then exploited for the analysis of novel Maps of Achievable Performance (MAPs) within a purposely-developed Matlab tool. The vehicle model, which includes roll and pitch dynamics, is obtained with a state-space formulation, in which the load transfers play a critical role and represent four state variables. A novel expression for longitudinal load transfers under transient conditions is proposed. Importantly, roll and pitch moments are studied in two forms: the first includes the vertical forces acting at the contact patch of the tires, and the second includes the suspension reactions through stiffness and damping. The use of MAPs is a recently proposed approach to evaluate the handling of the vehicles. Yet, so far, MAPs have only been studied for planar vehicle models. Here, for the first time, the MAPs of a three-dimensional vehicle model are presented, including MAPs featuring roll and pitch angle, providing new insights in the field of vehicle dynamics theory.