Automotive Lateral Dynamics and Mass Properties
by Brian Paul Wiegand
On May 20th at the Norfolk Hilton (“The Main”) an eight-hour course in “Automotive Lateral Dynamics” will be offered under the auspices of the SAWE as part of the society’s 78th International Conference. The course objective will be to enable the attendees to make reasonably accurate maximum lateral acceleration, rollover lateral acceleration, directional stability, and steering responsiveness determinations in the course of vehicle design. In route to attaining that objective, attendees will also become acquainted with such things as the calculation of roll resistance, suspension roll center location, sprung mass roll axis inclination, sprung mass roll inertia, sprung mass roll moment arm, sprung mass roll angle under lateral acceleration, vehicle roll gain, vehicle dynamic index in yaw, transient center of rotation location, and transient yaw inertia. There will also be considerable time spent on “Ackermann Steering Geometry” relationships and the behavior of tires under lateral load.
The seminar achieves its objective through a classical engineering approach that emphasizes determining vehicle lateral performance through simple models and simulations which are easy to comprehend and apply. Mass properties will play a major role as attendees will become acquainted with the principles of “weight accounting,” mass properties manipulation, and mass properties optimization.
This seminar is very important for anyone engaged in vehicle design, in particular, those designing with an emphasis on performance, and special effort has been expended to make it particularly relevant for those involved in the SAE Student Formula Design Competition. However, no one completing this course will walk away without having acquired some degree of enlightenment; as well as a Certificate of Achievement, print-out of the course Vu-Graphs, electronic (flash drive) copies of the SAWE Paper #3528 (“Mass Properties & Maximum Lateral Acceleration”), and the seminar’s “Maximum Lateral Acceleration Estimation Spreadsheet” (MS-Excel).
Additional course information can be found at this link: SAWE Conference Announcement and Training Program .
The course is open to students and mass properties professionals alike; the cost of registration for full-time students is only $50! Individuals desirous of attending this seminar should inform their student motorsport team leaders, contact brnwgnd@aol.com, and/or register on the conference web site at http://www.sawe.org.
