Periodic motions for an understeering vehicle

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of a simple two-wheel vehicle model with brush tyre characteristics after deviating from an unstable steady powerslide motion. Numerical simulations show, that the vehicle approaches a stable periodic solution corresponding to a unsteady fast cornering motion rotating in the opposite direction as the initial state. This periodic solution can be continued to a near-by Hopf bifurcation from a steady cornering motion along a circular path with a very small radius.