A sideslip angle-free approach to vehicle stability assessment and control

This paper introduces a new approach for assessing vehicle stability using phase-plane methods that eliminates the need to measure or estimate sideslip angle. The (Formula presented.) phase space and the (Formula presented.) phase plane are proposed as tools to capture vehicle dynamics across varying conditions and tyre models, using a single-track vehicle model with adapted Fiala brush and simplified Magic Formula tyre models. A No Sideslip (NS) stability region, defined using only measurable variables–yaw rate (r), lateral acceleration ((Formula presented.)), and sideslip rate ((Formula presented.))–is introduced to isolate stable trajectories effectively. The NS stability region is applied in an Electronic Stability Control (ESC) design, benchmarked against a state-of-the-art (SOA) ESC that relies on sideslip angle. Results demonstrate the effectiveness in activating as required without performance loss. A fully NS ESC is developed and tested in a sine-with-dwell manoeuvre using VI-Grade CarRealTime, showing comparable performance to the SOA ESC. This study confirms that enhanced vehicle stability can be achieved without sideslip angle estimation, offering a practical solution for lateral stability control.