Theory Of Road Vehicle Motion

Vehicle dynamics, road vehicles, motor vehicles, car dynamics, how cars work

What you'll learn

What forces act on road vehicles

How road vehicles act

Modelling the forces that act on a car

Traction and dynamic forces analysis

How road vehicles move in depth

Basics of road vehicle aerodynamics

Vehicle statics

Vehicle dynamics

Resistances to motion

Requirements

English at a medium level

Basics of Microsoft Excel or a similar spreadsheet software (for the final assignment)

Description

Motorized road vehicles are one of the most influential inventions of the 20th century. Still today, in the 21st century, they are being improved and redesigned to be more efficient and more safe for their users. This course will help you understand and will teach you the physics that happens when vehicles move (or stay static). You will see how simple everything is once it is broken into pieces. It is interesting how many details and little stuff happens behind the scenes of these machines we see and use every day. If you are a car enthusiast or an engineer working in the industry, this course will be a great addition to your knowledge. The course is made for:Mechanical engineers and studentsTraffic engineersSoftware developers working in the automotive industrySoftware developers working in the video game industryAutomotive enthusiastsMechanics and techniciansThe last section of the course is a practical one, where you will learn to analyze various parameters of a given automobile. The course won't give you the technical details about how certain components work but will teach you to analyze the motion and the mechanics of a vehicle as a whole. The introduction part is made so it will get you acquainted with all of the physics and math you will need in order to continue with learning about vehicle dynamics.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 What will we learn?

Lecture 2 Vehicle dimensions and parameters

Lecture 3 Drive systems and vehicle construction

Lecture 4 Power, torque and speed

Lecture 5 Gear ratios

Lecture 6 Efficiency

Lecture 7 Power transfer - from engine to wheels part 1

Lecture 8 Power transfer - from engine to wheels part 2

Lecture 9 Fun example of a gear mechanism

Section 2: Vehicle statics

Lecture 10 Basic trigonometry before we start

Lecture 11 Force decomposition example

Lecture 12 Simple beam

Lecture 13 From simple beam to limousine

Lecture 14 Tipsy vehicle

Lecture 15 Discussion

Section 3: Mechanics of rolling an elastic tire on a rigid surface

Lecture 16 Dynamic radius of a tire

Lecture 17 Elasticity of the tire

Lecture 18 Elasticity of a rolling tire

Lecture 19 Tangential reaction of the wheel

Lecture 20 Free wheel

Lecture 21 Drive wheel

Lecture 22 Braking wheel

Section 4: Aerodynamics of vehicles

Lecture 23 Aerodynamics?

Lecture 24 Drag, lift and resultant force

Lecture 25 Drag calculation and the drag coefficient

Lecture 26 Aerodynamic lift

Section 5: Resistances to motion

Lecture 27 Resistances to motion that act on our model

Lecture 28 Rolling resistance

Lecture 29 Rolling resistance factors

Lecture 30 Air drag resistance

Lecture 31 Gradient/slope resistance

Section 6: Final assignment

Lecture 32 How to do the assignment?

Mechanical engineers,Engineers,Traffic engineers,Technicians,People interested in cars,Petrol heads,Drivers who want to know more about the motion of vehicles,Software developers working in the automotive industry,Software developers working in the video game industry