ABS braking on rough terrain

Abstract

Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) have revolutionised vehicle safety by providing a mechanism for braking effectively whilst maintaining stability control. ABS works very well on smooth terrains, where there are little disturbances from the terrain and thus has been wildly adopted on commercial vehicles. The ability of ABS to perform on rough terrains is however deteriorated by the fact that rough terrains cause fluctuations in the wheel speeds and in the loading conditions of the tyre, which negatively affects the ABS algorithm as well as the tyre-terrain interaction. The adoption of ABS on off-road vehicles have been very slow due to these challenges. This study investigates the performance of ABS on rough terrain through performing experimental and simulated ABS tests using a testing trailer. A MSC ADAMS model of the trailer was built and validated. The ABS tests show good correlation between the tyre forces measured and the forces simulated using an FTire (Flexible Structure Tire Model) model in MSC ADAMS. The ABS algorithm’s performance deteriorates significantly due to the oscillation of wheel speeds. The work done in this study paves the way towards future ABS investigation and development using both the experimental and a simulated platform.