On the objective assessment and quantification of the transient-handling response of a vehicle

This article suggests a new methodology for the objective assessment and quantification of the response of a vehicle subjected to transient-handling manoeuvres. For this purpose, a non-dimensional measure is defined, namely the normalized yaw impulse. This measure appears in two variations. In its general or dynamic form, it represents the difference between the yaw moment due to the front-tyre forces and the yaw moment due to the rear-tyre forces, divided by the sum of the aforementioned yaw moments. By employing a linear, two-degree-of-freedom bicycle model, it is shown that the general form of the normalized yaw impulse can be written as a function of the steer angle and the forward, lateral and yaw velocities of the vehicle. This form is referred to as the kinematic yaw impulse. It is demonstrated that the combined application of the dynamic and kinematic expressions of the yaw impulse not only facilitates the explicit assessment and quantification of the transient behaviour of a vehicle, but also reveals the influence of parameters such as the yaw moment of inertia, which traditionally leave the steady-state behaviour unaffected.