Title: Development of a parsimonious dynamic model of tractor-semitrailers

Authors: Dongyoon Hyun, Reza Langari

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3123, USA. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3123, USA

Abstract: A parsimonious tractor-semitrailer model that is capable of capturing the dynamic characteristics of roll and yaw-plane motions of the vehicle is proposed. The potential use of this model is in the development of rollover warning and active control algorithms. This model is established using Lagrange|s equations so as to facilitate the modelling process as well as its implementation in Matlab/Simulink. The proposed vehicle model is verified by examining its steady-state response characteristics, as well as by comparing its transient response characteristics with those of ArcSim, which is significantly more complex than the proposed model. It has been shown that the response of the proposed model closely matches that of ArcSim under similar vehicle configuration and driving conditions.

Keywords: heavy vehicle stability; rollover warning and active control; tractor-semitrailers; vehicle modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2002.001181

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2002 Vol.9 No.4, pp.298-318

Published online: 01 Jul 2003 *

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