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In a conventional vehicle, the longitudinal shocks caused by the road obstacles cannot be effectively absorbed due to the fact that the longitudinal connections between the chassis and wheels are typically very stiff compared with the vertical strut where the regular spring is mounted. To overcome this limitation, a concept design of a planar suspension system (PSS) is proposed. The rather stiff longitudinal linkages are replaced by a spring-damping strut in a PSS so that the vibration along any direction in the wheel plane can be effectively isolated. For a vehicle with such suspension systems, the wheels can move forth and back with respect to the chassis. The wheelbase and load distribution at the front and rear wheels can change as a consequence of the implementation of the PSS on a vehicle. The planar system can induce changes in the vehicle dynamic behavior. This paper presents the overview introduction of a dynamic study of a vehicle with such suspension systems.

Rollover of heavy commercial vehicles is an important safety problem for drivers and all road traffic. There are various methods to stabilize a heavy vehicle. An integrated control system for stability enhancement of articulated vehicles is designed which considers both the yaw and roll moments to improve vehicle stability. The optimal control method is used to determine the corrective yaw and roll moments. Meanwhile, in order to achieve the desired yaw moment, the second-layer controller is used to distribute the braking forces among the wheels. Simulation results justify the benefits of an integrated control system in comparison with individual control systems.

The planar mathematical model for various design configurations of articulated log-hauling truck in the form of a tandem axle tractor and two separate semi-trailer units, commonly known as super B train truck, is developed. A thorough kinematics and dynamic analyses of the log-hauling combination trucks, incorporating up to three axles to be steerable for the tractor, are carried out and the governing differential equations for the lateral and yaw planar motions are derived. Using a computer simulation model, the directional performance and the lateral and yaw and stability of this articulated truck is fully investigated through transient and harmonic response analyses. Finally, a parameter sensitivity analysis was carried out for different variables involved in the simulation model, to study the sensitivity of the steady-state response to various parameters.