ME542 

Vehicle Dynamics

Winter 2014

Tu & Th 1:30‐3:00pm

Huei Peng 3012 PML

Department of Mechanical Engineering
[email protected], 1-734-769-6553

Office hours: Mon. 4-5pm (Peng), Wed. 1-2pm (Peng)

GSI office hours to be announced

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 1

Vehicle Dynamics and Safety 

• Accident occurred in May 2006 on I-96, caught by police dash-cam.

• Induced by an initial light side impact, SUV rolled over multiple times.
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 2
 Lecture 1‐‐Introduction and Motivation
(and administrative stuff)

• About this course
– Introduction and administrative information
– Major course content
– Grading policy
– MATLAB/SIMULINK
• Review of rigid body dynamics

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 3

Administrative Information
• Textbook (not required)
– J.Y. Wong, Theory of Ground Vehicles, John Wiley &Sons, Inc, 4th
edition, 2008. (http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd‐
0470170387.html)

• Course material will be made available on the Ctools site 
(PPT files should be downloaded and printed before the 
lectures, HW, solutions, example MATLAB programs will 
be distributed using this site)

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 4

 Course Requirements
• Prerequisites
– Knowledge in Newtonian Dynamics (ME240 level) is 
essential
– That of Automotive Engineering (ME458) and 
Intermediate Dynamics (ME440) are helpful but not 
required.  
– Familiarity with Matlab/Simulink, since Matlab/Simulink 
is used extensively in the lecture examples and 
homework assignments.

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 5

Major course content
Lec.  Date  Lecture contents 
1  1/9
Background
Introduction, motivation 
2   1/14  Review of Rigid Body Dynamics 
3   1/16  MATLAB‐SIMULINK review 
4 1/21 Tire Models: Overview, Terminology, Definitions 
5   1/23  Brush Tire Model (Lateral) 
6   1/28  Brush Tire Model (Lateral) 
7   1/30 Brush Tire Model (Longitudinal) 
8   2/4  Combined‐Slip Tire Model 
Tire 9  
10
2/6
2/11
(Lateral) Taut String Tire Model, Magic Formula Tire Model 
Off‐road tire model 
11   2/13  Steady‐State Handling 
12 2/18 Steady‐State Handling: Understeering and Oversteering
13   2/20  Transient Handling 
14   2/25  Lateral‐Yaw‐Roll model 
15 2/27 Lateral‐Yaw‐Roll model
Handling 16 
 
3/11 
3/13 
Four‐Wheel Steering 
Midterm (in class) 
17 3/18 Guest lecture: chassis control systems 
18   3/20  On‐Center  Handling,  Steady‐State  And  Transient  Handling  of  Articulated 
Vehicles 
19   3/25  Driver‐vehicle interaction 
20 3/30 Cross‐wind stability  
21   4/1  Ride dynamics—Principle and Vibration Isolation and human perception 
22   4/3  Ride dynamics—road excitations 
Ride 23
24  
4/8
4/10 
Ride dynamics—Quarter‐car suspension Model 
Ride dynamics—Quarter‐car suspension Model 
25   4/15  Ride dynamics—Bounce and Pitch Model 
26   4/17  Ride dynamics—Active Suspensions 
27 4/22 Summary 
  4/25  Final exam (4‐6pm) 

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 6

 Related Courses
• ME458 Automotive Engineering
Emphasizes the vehicle as an engineering system and 
review design consideration associated with all major 
systems including the vehicle structure, powertrain, 
suspension, steering and braking.  

• ME568 Vehicle Control Systems
Covers control issues for all major vehicle control 
systems including engine control, cruise control, 
ABS/traction control, four‐wheel steering, active 
suspension and advanced control systems for Intelligent 
Transportation Systems.  

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 7

Grading Policy
• Grading: 5‐6 Homework 55%
Midterm exam 20%
Final exam 25%
• Homework: Must be handed in on the due date in class (on‐campus
students) or uploaded to Ctools (distance learning students). Late
homework will be accepted up to 48 hours late with a 20% penalty for
each 24 hours (rounded up, i.e., 0 to 24 hours late = 24 hours late). All
problem sets (home work assignments) are to be completed on your
own. You may discuss homework assignments with your fellow
students at the conceptual level, but must complete all calculations and
write‐up, from scrap to final form, on your own. Verbatim copying of
another student's work is forbidden. If you have any questions about
this policy, please do not hesitate to contact the instructor.

• Exams: Midterm: in class, Dynamics, Tire, Handling
Final exam: 2 hours, Accumulative but more weight on 
Handling and Ride
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 8
 MATLAB/SIMULINK Tutorial 

http://www.engin.umich.edu/class/ctms/
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 9

Getting a Copy of MATLAB/SIMULINK

CAEN labs

Student version:

http://www.mathworks.com/products/studentversion/

Virtual Site

http://virtualsites.umich.edu/

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 10

 MATLAB/SIMULINK 
• Example MATLAB/SIMULINK programs will be 
distributed, which you can freely use/modify.
• MATLAB is used for simple (usually linear) vehicle 
dynamic simulations and analysis for this course.
• SIMULINK: A GUI based simulation program.  
Strength:
– Realistic dynamic phenomenon such as nonlinearity, 
quantization, noise, switches, look‐up tables, delays, 
etc. can be simulated easily.
– GUI makes it easy to recycle vehicle simulation 
modules

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 11

Review of Rigid Body Dynamics

• Vehicle Coordinate Systems

• Newton/Euler Formulation

• Lagrange Formulation

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 12

 Vehicle Coordinate System
• First step in deriving vehicle dynamic equations.
• The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has 
introduced standard coordinates and notations for 
describing vehicle dynamics
lateral
y pitch

x vertical
longitudinal
yaw
roll
z

ISO coordinate: x is the same but y and z are reversed.

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 13

SAE Vehicle‐Fixed Coordinate System
‐‐Symbols and Definitions
Axis Translational Angular Angular Force Moment
Velocity Displacement Velocity Component Component

x u (forward)  p or  (roll) Fx Mx
/ˈfaɪ/

y v (lateral)  q or  (pitch) Fy My
/ˈθiːtə/, US /ˈθeɪtə/

z w (vertical)  r or  (yaw) Fz Mz
/ˈsaɪ/, /ˈpsaɪ/

Pitch angle: the angle between x‐axis and the horizontal plane.  
Roll angle: the angle between y‐axis and the horizontal plane. 
Yaw angle: the angle between x‐axis and the X‐axis of a inertia frame

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 14

 Earth Fixed Coordinate and Vehicle Slip
OXYZ fixed on Earth (does not turn with the vehicle)

Course angle  =  + 

Heading angle
Sideslip angle
In the left figure,
sideslip angle is
negative)

v
tan  
O
u

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 15

Tire Slip

Source: Wong page 7

o: Center of tire contact patch

Z: Perpendicular to the ground plane.
X and Y axes: On the ground plane.
Tire camber angle: Angle between the XZ plane and the
wheel plane.
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 16
 Ride/Handling Dynamics
Involves vehicle motions in several directions

SPRUNG MASS RIDE HANDLING

longitudinal  
lateral 
vertical 
pitch 
roll ( ) 
yaw 
UNSPRUNG MASS
vertical  
wheel rotation  

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 17

Newton/Euler Formulation
Consider a rigid body of mass m, with c.g. at point o, 
subject to N external forces.  

For unconstrained motion, a rigid body possesses 6 DOF, 
3 translational (x, y, z) and 3 rotational ().

F2 FN
F1 k̂

iˆ o ĵ

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 18

 Newton/Euler Equations
Let V and  to denote the absolute velocity of mass center
and angular velocity of the rigid body, ( iˆ, ˆj , kˆ ) be unit
vectors of the body-fixed coordinate oxyz. The
Newton/Euler equations of motion are then

F2 FN
N
dV d L
Newton’s
2nd law:

i 1
Fi  F  m
dt

dt
F1
r1
r2
k̂ rN

o ĵ
Euler
N
dH iˆ
 i i o dt
r  F  M 
i 1

Where L is the linear momentum and H is the angular

momentum of the rigid body about the mass center o.
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 19

Angular Momentum
Hx 
Let H  Hx iˆ  Hy ˆj  Hzkˆ  H   I 
 y
 H z 

 I xx  I xy  I xz 
I xx   ( y 2  z 2 )   dV
where I    I xy I yy

 I yz  V

  I xz  I yz I zz  I xy   xy   dV etc.

V

 H x   I xx  I xy  I xz   p   I xx p  I xy q  I xz r 
   
H   H y     I xy I yy  I yz   q     I xy p  I yy q  I yz r 
 H z    I xz  I yz I zz   r    I xz p  I yz q  I zz r 

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 20

 Rigid Body Motion of a Vehicle
(a key concept: rate of change of a vector with respect to a rotating frame)

Translational motion:  F  ma
D
 F  ma  m  Dt uiˆ  vjˆ  wkˆ 

 m  ui ˆ  w kˆ  uiˆ  vjˆ  wkˆ 
 ˆ  vj F  m(u  qw  rv)
  x

F
Change of the unit vectors
 u   p  u  y  m(v  ru  pw)
d 
 m   v    q    v   F z  m( w  pv  qu )
 dt  w  r   w 
      

Cross Product
D d
    Rate of change due
to the rotation of the
Dt dt frame

Rate of change Rate of change wrt

wrt a fixed frame a rotating frame ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 21

Rigid Body Motion of a Vehicle (cont.)
 I xx p  I xy q  I xz r 
Rotational motion:  M  H  
H    I xy p  I yy q  I yz r 
  I xz p  I yz q  I zz r 
 

D d
  
Dt dt

  I xx p  I xy q  I xz r   p   I xx p  I xy q  I xz r  
d    
 M   dt  I xy p  I yy q  I yz r    q    I xy p  I yy q  I yz r  
  I p  I q  I r   r   I p  I q  I r 
  xz yz zz     xz yz zz  

M x  I xx p  I xy q  I xz r  I xz pq  I yz q 2  I zz rq  I xy pr  I yy qr  I yz r 2
M y   I xy p  I yy q  I yz r  I xx pr  I xy qr  I xz r 2  I xz p 2  I yz qp  I zz rp
M z   I xz p  I yz q  I zz r  I xy p 2  I yy qp  I yz r p  I xx pq  I xy q 2  I xz rq

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 22

 Equations of Vehicle Rigid Body Motion
 F  m(u  qw  rv)
x

 F  m(v  ru  pw)
y

 F  m(w  pv  qu )
z

 M  I p  I q  I r  I pq  I q  I rq  I pr  I qr  I r
x xx xy xz xz yz
2
zz xy yy yz
2

 M   I p  I q  I r  I pr  I qr  I r  I p  I qp  I rp
y xy yy yz xx xy xz
2
xz
2
yz zz

 M   I p  I q  I r  I p  I qp  I r p  I pq  I q  I rq
z xz yz zz xy
2
yy yz xx xy
2
xz

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 23

Simplified Equations of Motion
• Assume
– vehicle is symmetric wrt the xz plane (Ixy = Iyz =0)
– p,q,r,v, and w are small, i.e., their higher order terms are 
negligible.
– u=uo + u’, u’ is small compared with uo.
 Fx  m(u  qw  rv)  F  mu
x
'

 Fy  m(v  ru  pw)  F  m(v  ru )

y o
Linear!
 Fz  m(w  pv  qu)
.
 F  m(w  qu )
z o Naturally groups
into 3 sets
.  M  I p  I r
x xx xz
.
 M  I q y yy

 M   I p  I r
z xz zz

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 24

 Review of Rigid Body Kinematics
• Kinematics: study of the geometry of motions.
• Quantities: position, velocity and acceleration.

Given: Kinematics quantities of one 
point (mass center), and the angular 
motion of the rigid body.
k̂
Find: Those at another point on the o ĵ
same rigid body.  iˆ
ro r rel
K̂
p
Application: e.g., use motion of c.g. Iˆ O Ĵ rp
to infer motion of 
other points on the vehicle 
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 25

Rigid Body Kinematics 
Position:

r p  r o  r rel k̂

iˆ o ĵ
r p  r o  r rel K̂
ro r rel

Velocity: p
Î O Ĵ rp
V p  V o    r rel

V p  V o    r rel    r rel
Acceleration:

ap  ao    r rel    (  r rel )
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 26
 Example 1
A car is traveling in the xz plane, pitching, bouncing

Given: V o  uiˆ  wkˆ

o p
  qjˆ l

r rel  liˆ
Find: Vp ap

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 27

Example 1 Solution
V o  uiˆ  wkˆ
o p
  qjˆ l

r rel  liˆ

 u  0  l   u 
V p  V o    r rel   0    q   0    0 
 w  0  0   w  ql 
 uiˆ  ( w  ql )kˆ

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 28

 Example 1 Solution
V o  uiˆ  wkˆ
  qjˆ
r rel  liˆ
ap  ao    r rel    (  r rel )
 u   0   u   0   l   0   0 
  0    q    0    q   0    q    0 
 w   0   w  0  0   0   ql 
u  qw  q 2l 
 
 0 
 w  qu  ql 
 
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 29

Another Kinematic Example (hw1)
• Vehicle Bicycle Model
• Vehicle is driving in the xy plane at a constant forward 
speed, and turning.  All other motions are ignored
• Find the speed and acceleration at the center of the 
front axle and the rear left tire

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 30

 Example 2 f
Fx1
• Vehicle Bicycle Model
• Vehicle is driving in the xy plane, and  Fy1
yawing.  All other motions are ignored u a
• Find the dynamic equations
r
v

b
Fx 2

Fy 2

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 31

Example 2 Solution
 F  m(u  qw  rv)
x

 F  m(v  ru  pw)
y

 F  m(w  pv  qu )
z

 M  I p  I q  I r  I pq  I q  I rq  I pr  I qr  I r
x xx xy xz xz yz
2
zz xy yy yz
2

 M   I p  I q  I r  I pr  I qr  I r  I p  I qp  I rp
y xy yy yz xx xy xz
2
xz
2
yz zz

 M   I p  I q  I r  I p  I qp  I r p  I pq  I q  I rq
z xz yz zz xy
2
yy yz xx xy
2
xz

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 32

 Lagrange’s Formulation 
• An alternative way to formulate the equations of motion.
• Starts from “energy” (scalar!) rather than vectors.
• We first define three terms

Degrees Of Freedom (DOF):
Number of independent coordinates required to uniquely 
define the motion of a particle, a body or a system of bodies.
Constraints
Kinematic relationship that limit possible motions.
Generalized coordinates
A set of independent coordinates whose number is equal 
to the DOF and which uniquely define the position and 
orientation of the rigid body.
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 33

Examples for DOF, Constraints, and GC
Position of a particle in space: 3DOF

Position of a particle on a cylindrical surface
constraint
2DOF, position uniquely described by 2 coordinates, 
which are referred to as generalized coordinates (q1, q2).

Rigid wheel rolling on flat surface without slip, DOF=? 
Rigid wheel rolling on flat surface with slip, DOF=?

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 34

 Lagrange Equations
Consider a system of particles or rigid bodies with n DOF
described by n generalized coordinates {q1(t), …, qn(t)}.
The Lagrange's equation is then
d  T   T V
    Qi i  1n

dt   qi   qi  qi

where 
T  T (qi , qi ) : kinetic energy
V  V(qi ) : potential energy
Qi : the ith generalized non‐conservative force.
k
 rj
Qi   F j 
j 1  qi

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 35

Example 3: Compound Pendulum
Derive the equation of motion for the compound pendulum 
shown below for large angle q.

g
 L
mb
Ib
ms
r Is

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 36

DOF: only 1 (q)
g
Kinetic energy  L
1 1 1 L 1 mb
T ms ( L  r ) 2   2  I s 2  mb ( ) 2  I b 2 Ib
2 2 2 2 2 r
ms
Is
disk bar

Potential energy
L
V  ms g ( L  r )(1  cos  )  mb g (1  cos  )
2
disk bar
d   T   T V 0
    Qi
dt     

 L   L
  ms ( L  r ) 2  mb ( ) 2  I s  I b   g sin   ms ( L  r )  mb   0
 2   2

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 37

Example 4: Inverted Pendulum
• Later in the term, we will apply the Lagrange’s 
method to derive the lateral‐yaw‐roll model.  
• Here we will start from a simpler system, which only 
involves lateral and roll (yaw is ignored for now)

Lp,mp

F
mc

x
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 38
 Example 4 Solution 

Newtonian Method: for the pendulum Lp,mp

Lp Lp
xp  x  sin  yp  cos 
2 2
F
x-direction mc
d2 d L
Fx  m p 2
( x p )  m p ( x  p  cos  )
dt dt 2
x
Lp Lp
 m p ( 
x  cos    2 sin  )
2 2
y-direction 2
mp g Fy
d Lp d
Fy  m p g  m p 2 ( y p )  m p ( sin  ) Fx
dt 2 dt
Lp
 mp ( sin    2 cos  ) Fy
2
roll-direction Fx
Lp Lp 1
Fy sin   Fx cos   I p I p  m p L2p mc
2 2 12 F
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 39

Example 4 Solution (cont.)
Fy
Newtonian Method: for the cart
Fx
F  Fx  mc 
x mc
F
Lp Lp
F  (mc  m p ) 
x  mp  cos   m p  sin 
2

2 2

Lp Lp
Fy sin   Fx cos   I p Plug-in equations from x- and y- direction
2 2
2
m p g sin   m p 
x cos   m p L p
3

We wrote down four equations, two of them used to

cancel the internal forces Fx and Fy.

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 40

 Example 4 Solution (cont.)
Lagrange’s method
Lp Lp
xp  x  sin   x p  x   cos 
2 2
Lp Lp
yp  cos   y p   sin 
2 2

The kinetic energy and potential energy are then

1 1 1 1 1 L 1
T mc x 2  m p [ x 2p  y 2p ]  I p 2  mc x 2  m p [ x 2  2 x p cos    2 L2p ]
2 2 2 2 2 2 3
Lp
V  mp g cos 
2
d  T  T V
For x-direction: dt   x    x   x  Qx  F
Lp Lp
F  (mc  m p ) 
x  mp  cos   m p  2 sin 
2 2
d T   T V
For -direction:     Q  0
dt     
2 We worked with two equations
m p g sin   m p 
x cos   m p L p
3 ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 41

Example 5: Double Pendulum
The double pendulum system consists of a mass‐less rigid 
bar of length l1, a point‐mass m1, a spring with free 
length l2 and spring constant k, and another point‐mass m2. 
Use Lagrange's equation to derive the equations of motion.

l1
1 g
m1
k
l2
2
x
m2

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 42

 l1
1 g  2  1
DOF: 3 (1, 2, x) m1
A l11
k
Kinetic energy 2
l2 (l2  x)2
x
1 B
T  m1 (l11 ) 2  x
2
1
2 
m2  x  l11 sin( 2  1 )   (l2  x)2  l11 cos( 2  1 ) 
2 2

Potential energy
1
V  (m1  m2 ) gl1 (1  cos 1 )  m2 gl2 (1  cos  2 )  m2 gx cos  2  kx 2
2

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 43

d  T  T V
   0
dt  1  1 1
m1l121  2m2l12 x cos( 2  1 )  m2l1 
x sin( 2  1 )  m2l121
m2l1 (l2  x)22 sin( 2  1 )  m2l1 (l2  x)2 cos( 2  1 )  (m1  m2 ) gl1 sin(1 )  0

d   T   T V
   0
dt  2   2  2

m2 (l2  x) 22  m2l1 (l2  x)1 cos( 2  1 )  m2l1 (l2  x)12 sin( 2  1 )
2m x (l  x)  m g (l  x) sin( )  0
2 2 2 2 2 2

d  T   T V
   0
dt   x   x  x
x  m2l11 sin( 2  1 )  m2l112 cos( 2  1 )
m2 
 m g cos   kx  m  2 (l  x)  0
2 2 2 2 2

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 44

 Appendix

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 45

Rotation about a fixed axis

  
di  dj  dk 
   i  j k
dt dt dt

 u   p  u 

 uiˆ  vˆj  wkˆ     v    q    v 
 
 w  r   w

Beer, Johnson And Clausen, Vector Mechanics for Engineers, Dynamics, 8th edition, page 920

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 46

 Cross Product
• An operation on two vectors in the three‐
dimensional space 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_product
ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 47

y

 di 
j   j
i dt

 x dj 
k dt
   i

 iˆ ˆj kˆ 
d ˆ  
 i  0 0     ˆj
dt 1 0 0
 
 iˆ ˆj kˆ 
d ˆ  
j  0 0    iˆ
dt 0 1 0
 

ME542 Vehicle Dynamics-Lecture 1- 48