Title: The assessment of the ride quality of a truck-full trailer combination

Authors: Bor-Tsuen Wang, Po-I Hu

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan 91207, Republic of China. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan 91207, Republic of China

Abstract: This paper presents an analytical model for the evaluation of the ride quality of a tractor and trailer moving on an irregular road surface. A nine degree-of-freedom tractor and trailer ride model is developed, and this is assumed to have a displacement input of a stationary ergodic Gaussian random road profile. The frequency response functions of the system are first derived so as to determine the power spectral density functions of the system response. A conventional tractor and trailer combination is then used to simulate the vehicle response, and thus the ride quality can be studied. The ride comfort of the driver|s seat is evaluated in comparison to the ISO 2631. The suspension travel, road holding, dynamic tyre force and the acceleration distributions of the tractor and trailer that can affect the ride quality of parts and cargoes are also studied. The effects of the vehicle speed, laden and road roughness on ride quality are systematically evaluated.

Keywords: heavy vehicles; ride comfort; tractor trailer combination; vehicle modelling; ride quality; seat comfort; suspension travel; road holding; dynamic tyre force; acceleration distribution; vehicle speed; road roughness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.1998.054499

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 1998 Vol.5 No.3/4, pp.208 - 235

Published online: 18 Jun 2013 *

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