ABS performance evaluation taking braking, stability and steerability into account

Extensive research on the design and development of antilock brake systems has been done in the past. ABS has been developed not to reduce stopping distance, but rather to stop as quickly as possible whilst maintaining some directional stability and steering control during hard braking. There is however not a single, quantifiable, scientific method in which the performances of these ABS control systems can be compared with one another that takes all the important aspects into account. This investigation proposes an evaluation technique that considers the ABS control system's exploitation of the entire friction circle. Five scenarios are investigated and the performances of two ABS algorithms are compared with one another and with a conventional brake system without ABS. The resulting technique is a clear and concise, multi-parameter comparative tool that can be used to critically compare the performance of various brake systems under the same testing conditions. © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.