Estimation of Road Adhesion Coefficient Based on Tire Aligning Torque Distribution

Road adhesion coefficient is an important parameter in vehicle active safety control system. Many researchers estimate road adhesion coefficient by total tire self-aligning torque (SAT, also called front-axle aligning torque), which obtains the average road adhesion coefficient of front wheels, thus leading large estimation error. In this paper, a novel estimation of road adhesion coefficient based on single tire SAT, which is obtained by tire aligning torque distribution, is brought forward. Due to the use of SAT, the proposed estimation method is available in steering only condition. The main idea of the proposed method is that road adhesion coefficient is estimated by single tire SAT instead of total tire SAT. The single tire SAT is closer to real tire torque state, and it can be obtained by aligning torque distribution, which makes use of the ratio for the aligning torque of front-left wheel and front-right wheel. Tire sideslip angle used in torque distribution is estimated by unscented Kalman filter (UKF). Two coefficients, including front-left and front-right tire-road friction coefficients, are estimated by iteration algorithm form single tire SAT. The final road adhesion coefficient is determined by a coefficient identification rule, which is designed to determine which tire-road friction coefficient as the final road adhesion coefficient. Both simulations and tests that use gyroscope/lateral accelerometer/global position system (GPS)/strain gauge are conducted, to validate the proposed methodology that can provide accurate road adhesion coefficient to vehicle active safety control.