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A single vehicle on-road rollover accident of a small van is used to examine the effectiveness of the Anti-Rollover Braking System (ARB). The circumstances of the accident are reviewed, and how the accident was modeled using ADAMS. ARB is then added to the vehicle model to examine what would happen if ARB had been on the vehicle. Two cases are examined. One case uses the same steering as in the accident, and one case uses the same path as the accident. In both of these cases, ARB would have prevented the vehicle from rolling over.

There are some passenger vehicles that can roll over on flat dry pavement due to steering alone. A conservative estimate gives over 900 deaths caused by on-road rollovers of vehicles in the USA for the year 1996. These vehicles roll over because the forces the tires produce in the sideways (lateral) direction are strong enough to roll the vehicle over. A method called Anti-Rollover Braking (ARB™) for preventing on-road rollovers of these vehicles is presented. ARB™ works by sensing impending rollover and then applying the front brakes. This simultaneously straightens the vehicle in its turn, reduces the lateral forces that cause rollover, and slows the vehicle. ARB™ causes the vehicle to take the sharpest turn possible without it rolling over. After a short distance, the vehicle can turn more sharply than without ARB™ because of the reduction in speed. The driver maintains control of the vehicle at all times.

A test and simulation process is presented, for improving the rollover resistance of passenger vehicles by engineering design. The process originates from experience in the analysis of over 60 individual LTV rollover cases, related to litigation. The process involves obtaining vehicle data from test measurements, developing ADAMS-based full vehicle and tire computer models, and validating them against measurements from test vehicle limit maneuver performance. With a validated model for a particular vehicle, a wide variety of limit maneuvers can be conveniently simulated with reasonable accuracy. Also, vehicle performance in a specific rollover crash situation can be iteratively determined to match measured evidence. From the vehicle performance, the driver input is available. This can be used to check redesigns, to see if they remain upright with the same driver input as was involved in the original rollover.

Some sport utility vehicles, small vans and pickups are susceptible to on-road rollover under certain conditions. These vehicles' tires produce forces that support them, allow them to brake and maneuver, and in this case, to roll them over. We therefore examine the properties of tires that may aid or hinder a vehicle rolling over. To do this, we first introduce a quantity called the stability margin based on the difference between static stability factor and tire friction coefficient. The sensitivity of the stability margin to changes in its parameters is derived. This is used to examine how properties of tires may affect roll-over resistance. Properties of tires, such as coefficient of friction, overturning moment, camber dependence, load dependence, size, and pressure are examined in relation to rollover. Examples are given. Practical suggestions for selecting tires for vehicles with low static stability factors are given.