Category: Secondments

Photos: On the left, Cor-Jacques and Alessandro with the experimental setup. On the right, with Gerrit van de Wetering visiting the production plant of AFRIT based in Rosslyn, Pretoria

Alessandro Chiari, a PhD student from Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) in Italy, has recently completed a two months secondment to the Vehicle Dynamics Group (VDG) at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. He worked together with Dr Cor-Jacques Kat from VDG. The secondment is part of the European Union funded project OWHEEL within the framework of Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange Programme.

During the secondment a novel characterization procedure for the bushings that connect the lower control arm to the chassis was investigated. An experimental setup was assembled to determine the stiffness and damping characteristics of the bushings. The procedure does not require the bushings to be dismounted from the arm, and it also allows to measure the rotational characteristics. The results will be employed to improve the multibody simulations and the design of the lightweight components. An industrial visit to AFRIT, a leading trailer manufacturer in Africa, concluded a successful secondment.

Alessandro Chiari, PhD student from the MilleChili Lab at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy, has completed a secondment period of two months to the Vehicle Dynamics Group at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. The research carried out was focused on the interaction between vehicle dynamics and structural analysis to achieve an enhanced prediction of the loading conditions on the suspension components, useful to perform accurate optimizations from a lightweight viewpoint.

Photos: Left: Dr. Cor-Jacques Kat (University of Pretoria), Alessandro Chiari (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia) and Prof. Schalk Els (University of Pretoria); Right: Alessandro Chair with the test vehicle of the Vehicle Dynamics Group

In September 2022 two secondments from TUIL (Valentin Ivanov) and UTC (Hugo Pousseur) to the University of Tokyo have been started. They are focused on the development of new estimation techniques required to the active wheel corner control.

Dr Cor-Jacques Kat from the Vehicle Dynamics Group at the University of Pretoria, South Africa recently completed a month secondment to Tenneco in Belgium. During this secondment, laboratory and proving ground tests were conducted at Tenneco’s Monroe Engineering Technical Center, Sint-Truiden, Belgium and Ford’s proving ground in Lommel, Belgium. The aim of the tests were to better understand difference thresholds of whole-body vibration and how it can be used in vehicle suspension design. Dr Kat also attended the mid-term project meeting hosted by UNIMORE in Modena, Italy.

Ciro Tordela, a PhD Student of the University of Naples “Federico II”, carried out its Secondment with Arrival Germany, a OWHEEL industrial partner. The aim of the Unina-Arrival Secondment (from 16/03/2022 to 23/06/2022) regarded the development of two controllers for a Brake-by-Wire system, in particular, a Gain scheduled PID with a Feedforward Compensator and a nonlinear controller called Gain Scheduled Generalized Super Twisting.

Two researhers from Vilnius Tech, Paulius Kojis (left) and Šarūnas Šukevičius (right), finished their visits to Arrival GmbH in Pforzheim. This collaboration had a focus on the modification of the front suspension and its preparation for the in-wheel motor application.

The first OWHEEL secondment has been successfully finished. Hiroyuki Fuse (right) from the University of Tokyo performed research on the direct force control for an electric vehicle at TU Ilmenau under supervision of Valentin Ivanov (left).