Front Wheel Induced Self-Contamination
Abstract
Ensuring that sensors, such as radars, lidars and cameras, and their vicinity are clean is vital for the functionality of modern vehicle active safety systems and autonomous driving systems. If areas where sensors are placed become contaminated, the functionality of these systems is impaired, which in turn leads to an increased likeliness of system malfunction and potential risk. This is a liability present for all vehicles having variants of the systems mentioned above. In addition, for electrical vehicles, contamination management is crucial to ensure the functionality of electrical powertrains. One of the main sources for contamination of vehicles is self-contamination, i.e. contamination of the vehicle due to contaminant originating from the road, and being pulled up by its own wheels.
The proposed project aims to achieve a better understanding of the phenomena’s involved in self-contamination by water, and by doing so, develop numerical models to be able to accurately predict water contamination performance of a vehicle. This includes modelling of water distribution on rapidly rotating wheels, of the properties of water released from tyres. The project includes both virtual simulations and experimental work, conducted on full scale production vehicles. The latter includes obtaining the water behaviour when in contact with different materials, and quantifying the particle size distribution in the vicinity of the tyre.
The main applicant for this project is Volvo Car Group, and the other included partners are Scania CV AB, China Euro Vehicle Technology (CEVT), RISE, Linköping University (Department of Applied Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics), Chalmers university of Technology (Department of Vehicle Engineering and Autonomous Systems) and Chalmers University of Technology (Department of Mechanics and Maritime Sciences)
