Title: Simulation of tractor semitrailer manoeuvre at high speed using MATLAB/SIMULINK

Authors: Mohamed Abd Elazeem Elhemly; Mohamed Abdel Ghany Fayed

Addresses: Technical Research and Development Centre, Cairo, Egypt. ' Department of Eng. Mechanics, Military Technical College, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract: A new SIMULINK program has been developed to simulate the motion of a tractor-semitrailer combination including tractor, semitrailer, axle and suspension, tyre, and brake models. A predefined manoeuvre scenario was used to simulate driver behaviour, road conditions, and initial velocity as inputs to the program. The model was constructed to study the dynamic stability under different driving conditions; brake sequence, driver input, steering response, road type, and loading condition. The simulation results were validated through comparison with previously published results for similar operating conditions and can be used with confidence to predict the handling characteristics of different tractor semi-trailer combinations.

Keywords: jackknifing; handling performance; stability control; tractor semi-trailers; articulation rate; heavy vehicles; fifth wheel; semi-trailer differential braking; yaw rate; high speed manoeuvres; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2011.043107

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2011 Vol.18 No.4, pp.341 - 358

Published online: 29 Jan 2015 *

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