Active Front Steering and Four-Wheel Torque Vectoring for Improved Driving and Braking Performance of Distributed Drive Electric Vehicles

TY - JOUR

T1 - Active Front Steering and Four-Wheel Torque Vectoring for Improved Driving and Braking Performance of Distributed Drive Electric Vehicles

AU - Zhang, Lei

AU - Li, Siyang

AU - Ding, Xiaolin

AU - Wang, Zhenpo

AU - Sun, Fengchun

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 1967-2012 IEEE.

PY - 2026/3

Y1 - 2026/3

N2 - In this paper, a coordinated control scheme combining Active Front Steering (AFS) and Four-Wheel Torque Vectoring (4WTV) is proposed to enhance vehicle driving, braking and hill-climbing performance on split-μ roads. First, an AFS controller is designed based on a linear time-varying model predictive control approach to compensate for the additional yaw moment generated by torque vectoring. Then anti-lock braking and acceleration slip regulation controllers are developed using robust integral sliding mode control, taking into account the tire-road adhesion limits at each wheel. Finally, a coordination mechanism is formulated to effectively integrate the AFS and 4WTV controllers, considering driver inputs, vehicle states, road friction conditions, and actuator characteristics. Hardware-in-the-loop test results under three different split-μ road surfaces demonstrate that the proposed control scheme significantly reduces braking distance and acceleration time while improving hill-climbing performance and maintaining lateral stability.

AB - In this paper, a coordinated control scheme combining Active Front Steering (AFS) and Four-Wheel Torque Vectoring (4WTV) is proposed to enhance vehicle driving, braking and hill-climbing performance on split-μ roads. First, an AFS controller is designed based on a linear time-varying model predictive control approach to compensate for the additional yaw moment generated by torque vectoring. Then anti-lock braking and acceleration slip regulation controllers are developed using robust integral sliding mode control, taking into account the tire-road adhesion limits at each wheel. Finally, a coordination mechanism is formulated to effectively integrate the AFS and 4WTV controllers, considering driver inputs, vehicle states, road friction conditions, and actuator characteristics. Hardware-in-the-loop test results under three different split-μ road surfaces demonstrate that the proposed control scheme significantly reduces braking distance and acceleration time while improving hill-climbing performance and maintaining lateral stability.

KW - Active front-wheel steering

KW - Coordinated control

KW - Four-wheel torque vectoring

KW - X-by-wire

KW - model predictive control

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105016807620

U2 - 10.1109/TVT.2025.3611526

DO - 10.1109/TVT.2025.3611526

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105016807620

SN - 0018-9545

VL - 75

SP - 3957

EP - 3973

JO - IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology

JF - IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology

IS - 3

ER -