Theoretical and Experimental Vibration Analyses of the Steering Wheel of a Heavy Commercial Vehicle

In this study, the components of a particular heavy commercial truck that affect the steering wheel vibration are identified and the most common sources of this vibration are examined. Then, modal analyses and impact hammer tests are implemented to determine the root causes of the vibration. Finally, finite element modeling is applied, and all the results of the analyses are compared to present design improvement recommendations for the reduction in steering wheel vibration, which can be applicable in new projects.

Robust augmented H∞ shift control strategy for power-split system with a two-speed AMT gearbox of a heavy commercial vehicle

The coordination control of a transmission system has gradually attracted more attention with the development of hybrid electric vehicles. However, nonlinear coupling of multiple power sources, superposition of different dynamic characteristics in multiple components, and withdrawal and intervention for a power-split powertrain with a two-speed automated manual transmission (AMT) gearbox can cause jerk and vibration of the transmission system during the shift, which has higher requirements and challenges for the overall performance improvement of the system. This paper designs a novel, robust, augmented H∞ shift control strategy for a power-split system with a two-speed AMT gearbox of a heavy commercial vehicle and verifies the strategy’s effectiveness with simulations and experiments. First, the dynamic plant model and kinetic equations are established, and the shift is divided into five stages to clearly reveal the jerk and vibration problem. Based on augmented theory, a robust H∞ shift control strategy is proposed. Shift coordination is transformed into a speed tracking problem, and state variable and disturbance are reconstructed to obtain a new augmented system. Simulation and hardware-in-the-loop test are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the strategy, which mainly includes simulation of pneumatic actuator and H∞ control strategy. Results show that the proposed H∞ control strategy can greatly reduce the jerk of the transmission system. The jerk produced by the proposed strategy is decreased from 20.4 to 4.07 m/s3, leading to a substantial improvement of 80%. Therefore, the proposed strategy may offer a theoretical reference for the actual vehicle controller during the shift.