Title: Dynamic behaviour of a closed loop driver–car–caravan system

Authors: Pierfrancesco Festa, Luigi Mangialardi, Giacomo Mantriota

Addresses: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Gestionale, Politecnico di Bari, Viale Japigia, 182–70126 Bari, Italy. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Gestionale, Politecnico di Bari, Viale Japigia, 182–70126 Bari, Italy. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Gestionale, Politecnico di Bari, Viale Japigia, 182–70126 Bari, Italy

Abstract: This work studies the influence of the driver on the dynamic behaviour of a car-caravan system. A plane closed-loop 4-DOF linearised model was developed and the feedback was achieved with a compensation tracking model. The analysis of driver-car interaction was studied through the correlation of different ways of driving and effects on the dynamic response. Moreover, this work shows the influence on the stability of car speed and some design parameters such as the position of the caravan|s centroid and cornering stiffness of the axle. The effects on the stability induced by different design choices were verified through the simulation of an obstacle avoidance manoeuvre.

Keywords: caravan; driver; stability; dynamic; articulated vehicle.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2003.003354

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2003 Vol.31 No.4, pp.408 - 426

Published online: 04 Sep 2003 *

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