Journal Article

Analysis and Optimization of Wheel Alignment Parameters for Double Wishbone Suspension of Distributed Electric-Driven Lunar Rover

Gan, Yufeng, Huang, Jin, Chen, Junjie, Su, Yanzhao, Zhao, Zhuo

2026

Overview

The wheels of lunar rovers are prone to bouncing during travel in the low gravity and rugged terrain conditions of the lunar surface, and poor matching of wheel alignment parameters can easily lead to tire wear in such conditions. Focusing on the double-wishbone suspension of lunar rovers, this study presents a wheel alignment parameter optimization method for tire wear reduction. First, a tire brush model is established, and it is determined that the toe angle and camber angle are the main factors affecting the tire wear work. And as the camber angle and toe angle increase, the tire wear work becomes greater. Then, a multi-body dynamic model of the double-wishbone independent suspension in a low-gravity environment is established. Taking the minimum tire wear as the optimization objective, the optimal solution set of alignment parameters such as the tire camber angle and toe angle obtained and the optimal hardpoint coordinate positions are determined. The variation range of the toe angle is optimized from [−0.55°, 1.58°] to [−0.37°, 1.32°]. After optimization, the variation in the toe angle is reduced by 20.4%, the change rate of the camber angle becomes smoother, and the comprehensive wear work of the tire is reduced by 17.47%. The research results provide theoretical guidance for the optimization of wheel alignment parameters of the double-wishbone suspension of the lunar rover.

• Publisher: MDPI AG
• Subject: Automobiles / Design / double-wishbone suspension / Energy storage / Genetic algorithms / Gravity / hardpoint coordinates / lunar rover / Optimization / Partial differential equations / Sensitivity analysis / Simulation / tire wear / Vehicles / wheel alignment parameters / Wheels