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The purpose of this study is to improve vehicles’ brake stability, the problem of constraint control for an antilock braking system (ABS) with asymmetric slip ratio constraints is concerned. A nonlinear control method based on barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) is proposed not only to track the optimal slip ratio but also to guarantee no violation on slip ratio constraints.

A quarter vehicle braking model and Burckhardt’s tire model are considered. The asymmetric BLF is introduced into the controller for solving asymmetric slip ratio constraint problems.

The proposed controller can implement ABS zero steady-state error tracking of the optimal wheel slip ratio and make slip ratio constraints flexible for various runway surfaces and runway transitions. Simulation and experimental results show that the control scheme can guarantee no violation on slip ratio constraints and avoid self-locking.

The slip rate equation with uncertainties is established, and BLF is introduced into the design process of the constrained controller to realize the slip rate constrained control.

The purpose of this study is to propose a torque vectoring control system for improving the handling stability of distributed drive electric buses under complicated driving conditions. Energy crisis and environment pollution are two key pressing issues faced by mankind. Pure electric buses are recognized as the effective method to solve the problems. Distributed drive electric buses (DDEBs) as an emerging mode of pure electric buses are attracting intense research interests around the world. Compared with the central driven electric buses, DDEB is able to control the driving and braking torque of each wheel individually and accurately to significantly enhance the handling stability. Therefore, the torque vectoring control (TVC) system is proposed to allocate the driving torque among four wheels reasonably to improve the handling stability of DDEBs.

The proposed TVC system is designed based on hierarchical control. The upper layer is direct yaw moment controller based on feedforward and feedback control. The feedforward control algorithm is designed to calculate the desired steady-state yaw moment based on the steering wheel angle and the longitudinal velocity. The feedback control is anti-windup sliding mode control algorithm, which takes the errors between actual and reference yaw rate as the control variables. The lower layer is torque allocation controller, including economical torque allocation control algorithm and optimal torque allocation control algorithm.

The steady static circular test has been carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness and control effort of the proposed TVC system. Compared with the field experiment results of tested bus with TVC system and without TVC system, the slip angle of tested bus with TVC system is much less than without TVC. And the actual yaw rate of tested bus with TVC system is able to track the reference yaw rate completely. The experiment results demonstrate that the TVC system has a remarkable performance in the real practice and improve the handling stability effectively.

In view of the large load transfer, the strong coupling characteristics of tire , the suspension and the steering system during coach corning, the vehicle reference steering characteristics is defined considering vehicle nonlinear characteristics and the feedforward term of torque vectoring control at different steering angles and speeds is designed. Meanwhile, in order to improve the robustness of controller, an anti-integral saturation sliding mode variable structure control algorithm is proposed as the feedback term of torque vectoring control.

This paper aims to gain the real-time terrain parameters of the battlefield for the evaluation of military vehicle trafficability. In military missions, improvements in vehicle mobility have the potential to greatly increase the military operational capacity, in which vehicle trafficability plays a significant role.

In this framework, an online terrain parameter estimation method based on the Gauss-Newton algorithm is proposed to estimate the primary terrain mechanical parameters. Good estimation results are indicated, unless the initial values involved are properly selected. Correspondingly, a method of terrain classification is then presented to contribute to the selection of the initial values. This method uses the wavelet packet transform technique for feature extraction and adopts the support vector machine algorithm for terrain classification. Once the terrain type is identified, advices can be given on the initial value selection referring to the empirical terrain parameters.

On the basis of a dynamic testing system suitable for real military vehicles, the proposed algorithms are validated. High estimation accuracy of the terrain parameters is indicated on sandy loam, and good classification performance is demonstrated on four tested terrains.

The presented algorithm outperforms the existing methods, which not only realizes the online terrain parameter estimation but also develops the estimation accuracy. Moreover, its effectiveness is confirmed by real vehicle tests in practice.

The purpose of this paper is to explore a novel measurement approach for wheel-terrain contact angle using laser scanning sensors based on near-terrain perception. Laser scanning sensors have rarely been applied to the measurement of wheel-terrain contact angle for wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) in previous studies; however, it is an effective way to measure wheel-terrain contact angle directly with the advantages of simple, fast and high accuracy.

First, kinematics model for a WMR moving on rough terrain was developed, taking into consideration wheel slip and wheel-terrain contact angle. Second, the measurement principles of wheel-terrain contact angle using laser scanning sensors was presented, including “rigid wheel - rigid terrain” model and “rigid wheel - deformable terrain” model.

In the proposed approach, the measurement of wheel-terrain contact angle using laser scanning sensors was successfully demonstrated. The rationality of the approach was verified by experiments on rigid and sandy terrains with satisfactory results.

This paper proposes a novel, fast and effective wheel-terrain contact angle measurement approach for WMRs moving on both rigid and deformable terrains, using laser scanning sensors.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an improved adhesion model to better reproduce the low adhesion condition of the anti-skid control for rail vehicles under braking condition.

In view of the low adhesion characteristics for rail vehicles under braking conditions, the Polach adhesion model was improved based on the sliding power and sliding energy. The wheel–rail low adhesion model suitable for braking condition was given. The analysis of braking anti-skid control under emergency braking condition was carried out through the co-simulation, and compared with the test data; the effectiveness and practicability of the improved low adhesion model were verified.

The results showed that the improved adhesion model is simple and efficient and the parameters involved are less, and it can be directly applied to the real-time simulation of anti-skid control in the process of train braking.

This paper can provide a theoretical reference for the reasons of change and improvement of adhesion between wheel and rail caused by the adjustment of braking force under anti-skid control, which can fulfill a need to the study of sliding energy on the contact surface, the removal effect of pollutants on the wheel–rail surface and the improvement and recovery of adhesion caused.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-07-2020-0244/

Under this heading are published regularly abstracts of all Reports and Memoranda of the Aeronautical Research Council, Technical Reports and Translations of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration and publications of other similar Research Bodies as issued.

In response to the problem of insufficient traction/braking adhesion force caused by the existence of the third-body medium on the rail surface, this study aims to analyze the utilization of wheel-rail adhesion coefficient under different medium conditions and propose relevant measures for reasonable and optimized utilization of adhesion to ensure the traction/braking performance and operation safety of trains.

Based on the PLS-160 wheel-rail adhesion simulation test rig, the study investigates the variation patterns of maximum utilized adhesion characteristics on the rail surface under different conditions of small creepage and large slip. Through statistical analysis of multiple sets of experimental data, the statistical distribution patterns of maximum utilized adhesion on the rail surface are obtained, and a method for analyzing wheel-rail adhesion redundancy based on normal distribution is proposed. The study analyzes the utilization of traction/braking adhesion, as well as adhesion redundancy, for different medium under small creepage and large slip conditions. Based on these findings, relevant measures for the reasonable and optimized utilization of adhesion are derived.

When the third-body medium exists on the rail surface, the train should adopt the low-level service braking to avoid the braking skidding by extending the braking distance. Compared with the current adhesion control strategy of small creepage, adopting appropriate strategies to control the train’s adhesion coefficient near the second peak point of the adhesion coefficient-slip ratio curve in large slip can effectively improve the traction/braking adhesion redundancy and the upper limit of adhesion utilization, thereby ensuring the traction/braking performance and operation safety of the train.

Most existing studies focus on the wheel-rail adhesion coefficient values and variation patterns under different medium conditions, without considering whether the rail surface with different medium can provide sufficient traction/braking utilized adhesion coefficient for the train. Therefore, there is a risk of traction overspeeding/braking skidding. This study analyzes whether the rail surface with different medium can provide sufficient traction/braking utilized adhesion coefficient for the train and whether there is redundancy. Based on these findings, relevant measures for the reasonable and optimized utilization of adhesion are derived to further ensure operation safety of the train.

To authenticate the existence and principles of the adhesion recovery phenomenon under water pollution conditions, an innovative circumferential rail–wheel adhesion test rig was used. The study conducted extensive tests on the adhesion characteristics under large sliding conditions.

Experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of speed, axle load and slip on adhesion recovery. Based on the experimental results, the adhesion recovery transition function was re-fitted.

The study reveals that the adhesion recovery phenomenon truly exists under water conditions. The adhesion coefficient shows an increasing trend with the growth of the slip ratio. Moreover, at the current speed and axle load levels, the adhesion recovery is directly proportional to the square of the slip ratio and inversely proportional to the axle load.

The phenomenon of adhesion recovery and the formulated equations in this study can serve as an experimental and theoretical foundation for the design of braking and anti-skid control algorithms for trains.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2023-0379/

The purpose of this study is to investigate the adhesion characteristics of the wheel–rail under water and large sliding conditions. This is carried out by conducting a series of tests on a full-scale roller rig. The measured data provides an experimental base for conducting further theoretical research.

The influence of the slip ratio, rolling speed and the axle load on the adhesion coefficient between the wheel and the rail is analyzed under wet conditions using a full-scale roller rig.

From the research, it is found that the adhesion coefficient–slip ratio curve varies from the traditional theoretical description under water and large sliding conditions. Moreover, it is also observed that after the adhesion coefficient reaches the saturation point, the adhesion coefficient does not decrease, but continues to increase as the slip ratio increases.

The adhesion improvement phenomenon in this paper may provide new ideas for designing anti-skid control and braking system mechanisms for trains.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-07-2020-0236/