Armin Verhagen

Control-Oriented modeling and validation of bicycle curve dynamics with focus on lateral tire parameters

Under the objective of modeling, simulating and controlling the dynamics of bicycles in dangerous situations, such as wheel slippage, an accurate tire model is essential. Especially the lateral tire behavior is crucial since it is fundamental for stability in both rectilinear and curve maneuvers. So far, various test bench measurements are available in literature that describe lateral tire forces and moments under different load, sideslip and camber angle. The most recent measurements that study the behavior of common bicycle tires that are still available on the market come to very different results, even for identical tires. Anyhow, test bench measurements almost always imply conditions that differ from field application of bicycles on actual road surface. The aim of this paper is to use lateral tire parameters extracted from literature and include them into a multibody model of lateral bicycle dynamics. The simulation result is then compared to measurements recorded in a realistic environment. Therefore a bicycle is equipped with sensors to provide a large set of relevant variables of lateral vehicle dynamics. The validation process identifies a set of tire parameters that allows good model accuracy. Also for different tires at different inflation pressure model validity can be shown using tire parameters extracted from test-bench measurements.