A personal computer-based CAD system for investigating lateral stability of vehicle-dolly-trailer combinations
by P.J. Starr
International Journal of Vehicle Design (IJVD), Vol. 14, No. 2/3, 1993

Abstract: A Computer-Aided Design (CAD) system is developed and applied to study the lateral stability of two vehicle-powered dolly-trailer combinations under various design configurations, tyre properties and braking conditions. The dynamics of the tow vehicle path and the yaw angles of each element are expressed as nine first-order non-linear differential equations. Stable behaviour is interpreted as the ability to recover straight-line motion without any driver correction, and is quantitatively expressed in terms of the times for the yaw angles to decay to near zero. A stand-alone menu-driven system was developed for personal computer (PC) use. It combines simplified analysis with simulation, and enables a designer to easily alter parameters and view the evolution of yaw angles over time. Results are summarised for nine vehicle-trailer size combinations, each under three braking conditions.

Online publication date: Wed, 28-May-2014

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