MODELING, EXPERIMENTATION AND SIMULATION OF A BRAKE APPLY SYSTEM

This study presents the development and validation of an analytical dy namic model of the brake apply system of a vehicle. The brake apply sy stem includes the models for brake pedal, vacuum booster, master cylin der, and proportioning valves; the interactions with the wheel brake s ystem, which comprises the front and rear foundation brakes, are inclu ded by modeling their compliances. Laboratory experiments are performe d on a bench setup of the brake system and the experimental data is co mpared with the simulation results. The model is formulated such that the inputs are the pedal force applied by the driver, the vacuum suppl ied by the engine and the physical parameters of the brake components. Preliminary analysis shows that the simulation tracks the data quite closely throughout the regime of operation. Sensitivity studies are pe rformed to show the effect of different friction parameters on the sys tem performance.