Mechanical Simulation Corporation & TNO Form Partnership

In order to better predict the critical performance of tyres in vehicle dynamics, Mechanical Simulation Corporation has created a partnership with Netherlands-based TNO Automotive. Mechanical Simulation’s CarSim software will now link with TNO’s Delft-Tyre using Simulink.

Many engineers in design, development, testing and planning activities use CarSim, Mechanical Simulation’s software package for simulating the dynamic vehicle behavior of cars, light trucks and utility vehicles. CarSim animates simulated tests and generates about 600 output variables that can be plotted and analysed, or transferred to other software for processing using the same methods used for measured test data.

CarSim mathematical models cover the complete vehicle system and its inputs from the driver, ground and aerodynamics. The models are extensible using MATLAB/Simulink from The MathWorks, and this capability was used to integrate with the Delft-Tyre model.

“The performance of the vehicle is critically influenced by the performance of the tyres,” explained Mechanical Simulation’s Yukio Watanabe, Ph.D., senior development and consulting engineer. “Our engineering customers, particularly in Europe and Asia, have selected a variety of software to predict tyre behaviour, which they then utilize in their CarSim programs. After a year of benchmark testing, we’re happy to be able to offer Delft-Tyre software to our customers as a package. Because both CarSim and Delft-Tyre are available as Simulink S-functions, they can easily be combined using Simulink.”

The Delft-Tyre software is the product of the “Magic Formula” developed by Netherlands Professor Hans Pacejka, a world authority on the mechanical behaviour of the pneumatic tyre and its impact on vehicle dynamic performance. Delft-Tyre provides a full range of products and services to measure, model and simulate tyre behaviour, including parking and turnslip, non-linear transient behaviour, non-linear vertical characteristics and camber validity up to 70 degrees.

“Using Delft-Tyre in combination with CarSim, engineers can use two interfaces to determine tire behavior – Contact Point Interface (CPI) and Standard Tire Interface (STI),” said Dr. Watanabe. “The programme is easily developed through MATLAB and Simulink computing software, so there’s no delay in beginning the simulations.” MATLAB and Simulink are produced by The MathWorks, a leading developer of technical computing and Model-Based Design software for engineers and scientists in industry, government and education.

Delft-Tyre is developed by TNO Automotive, a subsidiary of TNO, the Netherlands-based organization for applied science.

Mechanical Simulation Corporation is a technology leader in the development and distribution of advanced software used to simulate vehicle performance under a wide variety of conditions. Established in 1996, its Ann Arbor, Michigan, headquarters provides car, truck and motorcycle simulation packages, training and ongoing support to more than 20 OEMs, over 30 Tier 1 suppliers and more than 60 universities and government research groups worldwide.