Modeling Vehicle Drivability with Modelica and the Vehicle Dynamics Library

To meet increasingly stringent fuel economy and emissions standards, automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers have sought novel technologies to meet customer demand constrained by the regulatory environment. As system complexity increases, the need for increasingly sophisticated analytic tools to perform concept evaluation, capture multi-domain system interactions, and develop and validate control strategies grows. Modelica has been used extensively in the automotive community for modeling and simulation of vehicle dynamics and handling [1], transient engine modeling and performance [2] [3], vehicle thermal management [4], air conditioning systems [5], and vehicle fuel economy and emissions [6].