Title: Static and dynamic analysis of tow trucks with tag axle during towing manoeuvres

Authors: Tennich Falah, Boumediene Falah

Addresses: Departement de Mathematique, D'informatique et de Genie, Mohamed Universite, du Quebec a Rimouski, 300 Allee des Ursulines, Rimouski, Qc, G5L, 3A1, Canada. Departement de Mathematique, D'informatique et de Genie, Mohamed Universite, du Quebec a Rimouski, 300 Allee des Ursulines, Rimouski, Qc, G5L, 3A1, Canada

Abstract: This paper presents a complete analysis of the behaviour of a heavytow truck-towed vehicle combination during towing manoeuvres. Both static and dynamic simulations are carried out to investigate the effects of adding atag axle to the tow truck. The tag axle is intended to ensure that a minimum load remains on the tow truck|s front axle during towing manoeuvres. Theresults presented in this paper show that the tag axle improves the manoeuvrability of the loaded tow truck but must be carefully used since italso significantly reduces the load on the drive axles, which could limit thetraction capacity of the tow truck.

Keywords: tow trucks; static analysis; dynamic analysis; towing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2001.001161

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2001 Vol.8 No.3/4, pp.218-237

Published online: 01 Jul 2003 *

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