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In recent years, the problem of automotive brake squeal during steering braking has attracted attention. Under the conditions of squealing, the loading of sprung mass is transferred, and lateral force is generated on the tire, resulting in stress and deformation of the suspension system. To predict the steering brake squeal propensity and explore its mechanism, we established a hybrid model of multibody dynamics and finite element methods to transfer the displacement values of each suspension connection point between two models. We successfully predicted the occurrence of steering brake squeal using the complex eigenvalue analysis method. Thereafter, we analyzed the interface pressure distribution between the pads and disc, and the results showed that the distribution grew uneven with an increase in the steering wheel angle. In addition, changes in the contact and restraint conditions between the pads and disc are the key mechanisms for steering brake squeal.

In view of the shortage of structural defect monitoring methods for deep submersibles, numerical simulation and experimental research on underwater SAW propagation based on interdigital transducers are carried out in this paper. PVDF interdigital transducer (PVDF-IDT) has shown considerable potential in the application of structural health monitoring because of its micro size, soft material characteristics, and the characteristics of long-term bonding on the surface of the tested structure. In order to realize the application of IDT on submersible or underwater structures, it is necessary to understand the influence of underwater environment on IDTs with different structures. The underwater attenuation of IDT with 2–5 mm wavelength and the underwater attenuation of Lamb (A0 mode) wave on a 4 mm thick titanium alloy plate is obtained through COMSOL software simulation. The experimental verification shows that the simulation results match with the actual situation, which proves that COMSOL software can accurately calculate the acoustic attenuation of surface waves at the solid–liquid interface. At the same time, the underwater attenuation of IDT with different structures is very different, providing important design parameters for the underwater interdigital transducer. In this paper, it is found that the Lamb wave has significant advantages over the Rayleigh wave in the health monitoring of underwater thin plate structures.

Safety is the cornerstone of autonomous driving vehicles. For autonomously controlled vehicles driving safely in complex and dynamic traffic scenarios, it is essential to precisely predict the evolution of the current traffic situation in the near future and make an accurate situational risk assessment. The precise motion prediction of surrounding vehicles is an essential prerequisite for risk assessment and motion planning of autonomous vehicles. In this paper, we propose a risk assessment and motion planning method for autonomously controlled vehicles based on motion prediction of surrounding vehicles. Firstly, surrounding vehicles' trajectories are predicted based on fusing constant turn rate and acceleration-based motion prediction model and maneuver-based motion prediction model with interactive multiple models. Then, considering both the probability of collision event and collision severity, the collision risk assessment between autonomously controlled vehicle and surrounding vehicles is conducted with a collision risk index. After that, the motion planning of the autonomously controlled vehicle is formulated as a multi-objectives and multi-constraints optimization problem with a model predictive control framework. Finally, the proposed method is applied to several traffic scenarios to validate its feasibility and effectiveness.

In this paper, the efficiency benefits of adopting Silicon–Carbide devices for electric vehicle applications are studied. A hybrid time and frequency domain-based simulation tool is developed for the Silicon–Carbide (SiC) traction inverter modeling. The tool provides steady-state results with comparable accuracy to standard time domain methods and achieves a factor of thousand reductions in time when simulating a large number of operating points. Especially, the impact of temperature-dependent device losses has been considered to ensure the simulation precision. Next, a vehicle-level modeling is developed to evaluate the impact of the inverter efficiency on the endurance mileage increase of vehicles. It is found that, by applying Silicon–Carbide devices, the energy consumption of the inverter can be greatly reduced by 3/4 under WLTC (World light light-duty vehicle test cycle) profile. It can be transformed into a mileage endurance increase of 3–5%. The impact of the drive cycle profile and the vehicle’s drag coefficient on the endurance mileage are evaluated as well. In addition, an economic/cost model is developed for selecting the “optimal” chip paralleling number for Silicon–Carbide power modules. Interestingly, the results indicate that this number should be slightly overdesigned to achieve the most cost saving from the system point of view.

To quantify the intensity of automobile brake creep groan, both experimental and analytical studies are innovatively conducted on the friction-induced vibration and noise of the disc brake in this paper. Experimentally, three factors, brake disc initial temperature, terrain, and gear position, are comprehensively contemplated to design six different test conditions, based on which a creep groan vehicle road test is conducted. Depending on the subjective evaluation and statistical analysis of the annoyance degree caused by vibration and noise in the starting and braking process under different test conditions, the influence of each factor on creep groan intensity is obtained. By processing the brake caliper and lower suspension arm acceleration and the interior sound pressure signals acquired in the test, the occurrence conditions and transient dynamic characteristics of creep groan are explored. One of the creep groan vibration modes is triggered by the rapid removal of the force exerted on the brake pedal when the vehicle starts at an extremely low speed, which presents intermittent impact and chaotic characteristics. The other vibration mode shows periodic harmonic characteristics, whose energy is concentrated on specific frequencies in the form of frequency doubling. This vibration mode occurs when continuously maintaining a low brake oil pressure or slowly releasing the force exerted on the brake pedal during the vehicle low-speed starting process, the velocity-displacement phase-plane portrait of which shows a stable limit cycle of stick-slip motion. Analytically, four vibration indexes and four noise indexes are established to evaluate the intensity of creep groan, the validity of which is verified by linear regression analysis. Finally, by combining all effective indexes, multiple linear regression analysis is performed, based on which the mapping relationship between the subjective evaluation of creep groan and effective indexes is obtained. The results demonstrate that the combination of the logarithmic vibration dose value of maximum brake caliper acceleration pulse and the loudness of interior noise can accurately describe the annoying degree caused by creep groan. The regression model can quantify and predict creep groan intensity of the test vehicle under different test conditions, which has guiding significance for engineering applications.

In this paper, we investigate vehicle–bridge interactions and propose a new method for assessing bridge conditions based on nonlinear vibration analysis. A vehicle model is presented, and the dynamic load on the bridge is quantified based on bridge road roughness. The vibration of a river bridge under a moving vehicle is recorded and analyzed. The Fourier spectrum of the bridge response due to vehicle loading exhibits complicated cluster bands in addition to multiple peaks, some of which are correlated with the bridge natural modes characterized by finite element method analysis and free decay testing, and some of which are correlated with the vehicle dynamic load spectrum. To characterize the unidentified narrow band in the bridge response spectrum, the Lyapunov exponent of the response is estimated, which is found to be a positive value indicating the nonlinear properties of the bridge’s large response under vehicle loading. This finding correlates with the bridge inspection, which shows that some supporting roller bearings do not properly contact the superstructure of the bridge. To elaborate this phenomenon, a model of beam with nonideal supporting condition is analyzed, and a narrow band spectrum is characterized using He’s variational-iteration method. This research offers insight to using the vehicle–bridge interaction to monitor the health status of a bridge by using nonlinear properties, as well as linear properties.

This paper investigates the creep groan of a vehicle’s brake experimentally, analytically, and numerically. Experimentally, the effects of acceleration on caliper and strut, noise, brake pressure, and tension are measured. The results show that the measured signals and their relevant spectra broadly capture the complex vibrations of creep groan. This includes the simple stick-slip, severe stick-slip vibrations/resonances, multiple harmonics, half-order harmonics; stick-slip-induced impulsive vibrations, steady/unstable vibrations, and their transitions. Analytically, a new mathematical model is presented to capture the unique features of half-order harmonics and the connections to fundamental stick-slip/resonant frequency and multiple harmonics. The analytical solution and the experimental results show that the vibro-impact of the brake pad-disc system can be triggered by severe stick-slip vibrations and is associated with instable, impulsive stick-slip vibration with wideband. The induced stick-slip vibro-impact can evolve into a steady and strong state with half-order, stick-slip fundamental, and multiple-order components. This new mechanism is different from all previously proposed mechanisms of creep groan in that we also view some type of creep groan as a stick-slip vibration-induced vibro-impact phenomenon in addition to conventional stick-slip phenomena. The new mechanism comprehensively explains the complex experimental phenomena reported in the literature. Numerically, the salient features of phase diagrams of instable stick-slip and vibro-impact are examined by using a seven-degree-of-freedom brake system model, which shows that the phase diagrams of the dynamics of creep groan with and without vibro-impact are substantially different. The phase diagram of the dynamics with vibro-impact is closer to the experimental results. In contrast to existing mechanisms, the proposed new mechanism encompasses the instable stick-slip nature of creep groan and elaborates the inherent connections and transition of the spectrogram. The new knowledge can be used to attain critical improvements to brake noise and vibration analysis and design. By applying the proposed new model in addition to existing models, all experimental phenomena in creep groan are elaborated and quantified.

Contact stiffness and friction coefficient are excitation sources and key influencing factors to frictional squeal with obvious inhomogeneous characteristic that is always neglected. In this paper, a multipoint contact flexible pin-on-disc system is established considering tangential stiffness. Then influence of contact stiffness and friction coefficient with heterogeneous distribution on frictional squeal is studied using the complex modal analysis. The research shows that contact stiffness and friction coefficient heterogeneities influence the likelihood of occurrence of the squeal, the frequency of the squeal, and the real part of the complex eigenvalue of the system. And when the contact stiffness and friction coefficient are close to the boundary of the region of mode-coupling instability, flexible pin-on-disc system with homogeneous contact stiffness and friction coefficient cannot predict whether frictional squeal occurs or not. Besides, uncertain distribution of contact stiffness and friction coefficient can induce the uncertainty of brake squeal.

To improve the understanding of brake creep groan, both experimental and numerical studies are conducted in this paper. Based on a vehicle road test under the condition of downhill, complicated stick-slip type motion of caliper and its correlation with the interior noise were analyzed. In order to duplicate these brake creep groan phenomena, a transient dynamic model including brake corner and subsystems was established using finite element method. In the model, brake components were considered to be flexible body, and the subsystems including driveline, suspension, tire, and vehicle body were considered to be rigid body. Simulation and experimental results of caliper vibration in time and frequency domains were compared. It was demonstrated that the new model is effective for the prediction and analysis of brake creep groan, and it has higher accuracy compared to the previous model without the subsystems. It is also found that the lining and caliper not only have stick-slip motion in each coordinate direction but also have translational and torsional movements in plane, which relate to the microscopic sticking and slipping, friction coefficient, and forces, as well as the contact status at the friction interface.

Friction squeal is an unstable friction-induced vibration with high frequency and high intensity, which is troublesome for both people and environment. Surface topography is an important influencing factors of friction squeal. In this paper, based on introduction of surface topography, a review on the influence of surface topography on friction squeal is conducted from the aspect of experimental analysis, theoretical research and simulation analysis. For the convenience of scholars' understanding and carrying out relevant research, the influence of surface topography on friction and contact parameters, and the influence of friction and contact parameters on friction squeal are reviewed. Moreover, the generation methods of rough surface are introduced to facilitate the research. Finally, on the basis of a discussion on difficulties and shortcomings of the former research, recommendations are proposed for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a flexible pin-on-disk system is used to simulate how squeal noise can be generated in frictional contact. As the research object, the modeling process and transient simulation method of the flexible pin-on-disk system are introduced. By means of numerical simulation, the time-varying frictional squeal reappears by introducing periodic frictional coefficient generated from rotation. Afterward, the features of time-varying squeal are studied including time-domain features, frequency-domain features, transient deformation features of the disk and the pin on the occurrence of squeal, as well as energy features. Finally, the conception and mathematical expressions of modal contribution factor are defined, and the transient modal contribution factor features of every mode are studied to make clear the function of every mode. The relationship between mode contribution factors and the vibration is revealed. It reveals that modal contribution factors between squeal and not are quite different from each other. On no occurrence of squeal, the modal contribution factors of sine and cosine modes of the disk fluctuate in the way similar to harmonic wave, and the phase difference between the contribution factors of sine and cosine mode with the same nodal circle and the same nodal diameter is 90 deg. During squeal, the coupling mode may play the most important role but not all the time. At any time, the low-frequency modes play the leading role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]