MotionView FSAE Model: Issues Integrating Custom MF-Tyre Coefficients

Shrikar019

We’re building a multibody dynamics (MBD) model of our Formula Student electric vehicle using MotionView with the FSAE vehicle library. We’ve successfully removed the default internal combustion powertrain and replaced it with the electric powertrain setup from the commercial vehicle example model.

What we’re trying to achieve:

We want to simulate dynamic events (e.g., constant radius, acceleration) using tire parameters based on our actual FSAE tire data. Our goal is to replace the default example tire data with our own fitted coefficients, calculated using the Magic Formula based on data from the FSAE TTC.

What we've tried:

• Generated custom MF-Tyre data using a self-developed MATLAB fitting tool.
• Initially tried to load this as a new tire file but ran into the error:
  "Unknown PROPERTY_FILE_FORMAT", due to missing required chunk:
  PROPERTY_FILE_FORMAT = 'SWIFT-TYRE'
  FUNCTION_NAME = 'tnodelft::DTYRE'
  ROAD_SOURCE = 'TNO'
  N_TIRE_STATES = 5
  USE_MODE = 114
  HMAX_LOCAL = 2.5E-4
  SWITCH_INTEG = 0.1
• As a workaround, we manually edited the default example tire files and replaced the coefficients with our own.
• After this, the model loads and runs, but the simulation fails partway through the dynamic events

Is manually editing default MF-Tyre files the recommended approach, or is there a more robust method to import our custom tire data?

Are there any best practices for ensuring stability and convergence in simulations using edited tire data?

Have we possibly missed any available FSAE-specific tire templates or documentation for working with TTC-derived models?

Is there a way to validate that the modified tire file is being parsed correctly by MotionSolve?

Any guidance or sample FSAE tire integration practices would be very helpful. We’d be happy to share snippets of our tire data or the modified tire file if needed.

Vishvam

Hello @Shrikar,

The best starting point for using a tire model in Motionview can be using Altair Fiala Tire models. You will find the FIALA folder in the installation "Tires" directory which you can use for reference.
Applicability of the FIALA tire model is limited primarily to vehicle handling on smooth road surfaces. It needs very few input parameters to begin with and can be helpful for your usecase.

Here is the link to understand more on FIALA tire models

You can also go through the following link to understand different tire models, it's applications and limitations:
Introduction to Tire Modeling

Hope this helps!