Development of a tranfer-case control system for rear wheel based 4WD vehicles

Abstract

This paper presents a control method of torque distribution for Four Wheel Drive (4WD) vehicles. The 4WD system is a device which distributes optimal torque between front and rear propeller shafts to improve traction ability and stability of a vehicle. While the object of the traditional 4WD system is to improve only traction ability by distribution of the transmission torque, the recent 4WD system is used for to meliorate the traction ability, stability and fuel consumption efficiency. This paper proposes the control algorithm for the vehicle which is equipped the electronic controlled 4WD system to improve traction ability. In this paper, the mathematical equation-based control method by vehicle dynamics analysis is presented. The proposed control algorithm of the 4WD system is validated by real vehicle test using the Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP) and the mid-size Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) equipped 4WD system of multi plate clutch type actuated by solenoid coil.