SIMON: A New Vehicle Simulation Model for Vehicle Design and Safety Research

SIMON is a new vehicle dynamic simulation model. Applications for SIMON include single- and multi-unit vehicle handling simulation in severe limit maneuvers (including rollovers) and 3-dimensional environments. Applications also include vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-barrier collisions. This paper provides the technical background for the SIMON engineering model. The 3-dimensional equations of motion used by the model are presented and explained in detail. The calculations for suspension, tire, collision, aerodynamic and inter-vehicle connection forces and moments are also developed. The integration of features available in the HVE Simulation Environment, such as DyMESH, the Driver Model, Brake Designer and Steer Degree of Freedom, is also explained. Finally, assumptions and limitations of the model are presented. VEHICLE SIMULATION has many uses in the vehicle design and safety industries. Applications include vehicle design (suspension modeling, vehicle-tire system modeling and brake system modeling), virtual prototyping and compliance testing (ISO braking and lane change maneuvers) and safety analysis (collision simulation and post-crash reconstruction of actual events). Advances in vehicle modeling and computer hardware and software technology have made possible significant improvements in the field of vehicle simulation, resulting in newer and more powerful modeling capability. For example, simulations in the 1980is typically used 2-dimensional models employing three degrees of freedom. More sophisticated models existed, but were not often used because of their crude user interfaces.

[1]  T. Teichmann,et al.  Dynamics of Flight: Stability and Control , 1959 .

[2]  Charles C. MacAdam,et al.  A computerized model for simulating the braking and steering dynamics of trucks, tractor-semitrailers, doubles, and triples combinations - users' manual, phase 4. Final report , 1980 .

[3]  Terry D. Day.  A COMPUTER GRAPHICS INTERFACE SPECIFICATION FOR STUDYING HUMANS, VEHICLES AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT , 1993 .

[4]  Terry D. Day.  An Overview of the HVE Developer's Toolkit , 1994 .

[5]  Terry D. Day,et al.  An Overview of the HVE Vehicle Model , 1995 .

[6]  Terry D. Day,et al.  An Overview of the HVE Human Model , 1995 .

[7]  Terry D. Day,et al.  Validation of Several Reconstruction and Simulation Models in the HVE Scientific Visualization Environment , 1996 .

[8]  Terry D. Day.  Validation of the EDVSM 3-Dimensional Vehicle Simulator , 1997 .

[9]  Wesley D. Grimes,et al.  3-Dimensional Simulation of Vehicle Response to Tire Blow-outs , 1998 .

[10]  Terry D. Day,et al.  Differences Between EDVDS and Phase 4 , 1999 .

[11]  Terry D. Day,et al.  The DyMesh Method for Three-Dimensional Multi-Vehicle Collision Simulation , 1999 .

[12]  Terry D. Day.  An Overview of the EDSMAC4 Collision Simulation Model , 1999 .

[13]  Terry D. Day,et al.  Integrating Design and Virtual Test Environments for Brake Component Design and Material Selection , 2000 .

[14]  L. Daniel Metz,et al.  THE SIMULATION OF DRIVER INPUTS USING A VEHICLE DRIVER MODEL , 2000 .

[15]  Terry D. Day,et al.  Validation of DyMESH for Vehicle vs Barrier Collisions , 2000 .

[16]  Joseph H Canova,et al.  Vehicle Design Evaluation Using The Digital Proving Ground , 2000 .