Quarter car model stress analysis for terrain/road profile ratings. (4th October 2004)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Howe, J. Gavin; Chrstos, Jeffrey P.; Allen, R. Wade; Myers, Thomas T.; Lee, Dongchan; Liang, Chi-Ying; Gorsich, David; Reid, Alexander
• Is Part Of: International journal of vehicle design. Volume 36:Number 2/3(2004)
• Page Start: 248
• Page End: 269
• Publication Date: 2004-10-04
• Subjects: international roughness index -- IRI -- fatigue life cycle prediction -- power spectral density -- PSD -- repetitions of failure -- root mean square of elevation -- RMSE -- speed roughness index -- SRI -- terrain rating -- road roughness -- terrain roughness -- vehicle suspension forces -- stress analysis; Motor vehicles -- Design and construction -- Periodicals; 629.231
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-3369

Abstract

The US Army currently uses the root mean square of elevation (RMSE) and power spectral density (PSD) to characterise road/terrain roughness for ground vehicle durability assessment. This paper describes research aimed toward improving these measures. One potential method is running a relatively simple, yet vehicle class specific model over a given terrain and using predicted vehicle response(s) to characterise the terrain. A precedent for this concept is the International Roughness Index (IRI), used in the highway industry. The IRI consists of a simple tyre model and quarter car vehicle model run at a specified speed to estimate suspension velocity over a road profile. Another method of estimating road roughness is fatigue analysis. In this study, a generic specimen was subjected to the quarter car suspension forces. The stresses developed were used to make a fatigue life cycle prediction. This paper presents the key concepts and results from this analysis.