Longitudinal and Lateral Dynamics Simulation of an 11-Axle, 91-Ton Vehicle Combination for the Sugarcane Industry 2023-36-0360

The sugarcane industry holds the second largest share of production value in the Brazilian agricultural sector, with Brazil responsible for more than 20% of the world’s production. Therefore, the increase of efficiency in the production process of sugarcane is an object of interest for producers, with transportation playing an important role in the process, both economically and environmentally. Intending to improve the efficiency in the transportation of sugarcane between cultivation and processing facilities, this work uses simulations to analyze safety aspects of a vehicle combination with 11 axles and 91ton capacity, new to the Brazilian transportation system. Several procedures were performed in a virtual environment to evaluate the vehicle longitudinal and lateral dynamics, including weight distribution, overtaking performance, rollover threshold, rearward amplification, braking and gradeability. The study is focused on providing information about the feasibility and safety of this vehicle combination in highway traffic. The simulations were made in the software TruckSim 2020.1, from Mechanical Simulation, broadly used by the automotive industry due to its friendly interface when modeling the vehicle and test procedures. The results obtained indicate that it is possible for these vehicles to operate safely, as long as some restrictions on the trailer design and traffic engineering are respected, allowing to increase the efficiency in sugarcane transportation without compromising traffic safety.