Development and validation of a simplified automotive steering dynamic model

This paper describes an innovative analytic/numerical method for modeling steering systems for automotive applications. Starting from a detailed literature analysis and pushed by vehicle manufacturers’ needs, a simplified steering dynamic model, characterized by few parameters, has been identified. It guarantees both the replication of the dynamic behavior of real systems, generally represented through more complex multibody models, and the reduction of the simulation time of the entire vehicle system, making it suitable for dedicated numerical computing environments, such as the, so-called, explicit multibody codes. Moreover, particular emphasis has been place on the correct evaluation of the influence of friction on steering system dynamics