Abstract
Research and /or Engineering Questions/Objective:
Long combination vehicles are widely used in the USA, Canada and Australia. In Russia and Belarus engineers design such combinations as multilink trucks with active hybrid drives on the basis of saddle trucks. Driving with a small turn radius, lane change maneuvers, raise of mass center at loading increases rollover risk for multilink trucks. The aim of the paper is to improve safety of multilink trucks by means of improving their transverse dynamics and to increase the maneuver speed.
Methodology:
Analysis of works on stability of trucks shows that most of works are associated with the development of dynamic stability control systems. However, the improved stability does not solve all the tasks related to the trucks rollover. The paper is based on the experience of C.B. Winkler, D. Cebon and D.J.M. Sampson. The work combines simulation of the multilink truck motion, evaluation of its transverse dynamics in MSC.ADAMS and experimental studies of the multilink truck with the length of 47 m in the automotive proving ground. The techniques of virtual and physical tests are identical for every level. It allows to validate the virtual dynamic model at the initial stage of the study and further research of transverse dynamics is allowed to do with simulation in MSC.ADAMS.
Results:
The paper presents estimation methodology and results of the research of transverse dynamics for multilink trucks using the CAE-modeling and by means of real tests of multilink truck in the automotive proving ground. The effectiveness of automatic control and prevention of the truck rollover moment taking into account the dynamic normal and side loads redistribution are shown. Investigations of loads changes for the pneumatic suspension of a truck while it is moving along the given path will be presented in the paper.
Limitations of this study:
All studies of the transverse dynamics for multilink truck were done on a dry road surface. In the work it is assumed that the tires characteristics are linear.
What does the paper offer that is new in the field in comparison to other works of the author:
The need for automatic control and prevention of the truck rollover moment taking into account dynamic normal and side loads redistribution for multilink trucks is new. This task has not been previously investigated in works and the transverse dynamics of multilink trucks has not been studied yet. It is not investigated the redistribution of pressures for suspension pneumatic balloons while the truck is moving along a given path. These loads have complex dynamics and significantly affect safety.
Conclusion:
It was developed the technique to study the transverse dynamics of multilink trucks. It was estimated the efficiency of automatic control and prevention of the rollover moment. In this case control should be realized both on the basis of information of the lateral acceleration sensor and taking into account the dynamic redistribution of loads among axes and sides of the truck.
KEYWORDS – transverse dynamics; rollover; multilink truck; suspension; modelling