Citation

Koussoulas NT, Manesis S. Int. J. Veh. Syst. Model. Test. 2012; 7(2): 105-134.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Inderscience Publishers)

DOI

10.1504/IJVSMT.2012.048443

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Jackknifing is a major cause of disasters in traffic accidents involving articulated trucks. In this work, we examine a tractor/semi-trailer combination that is equipped with a device which allows the kingpin junction to slide along the rear tractor axle. While braking, the articulated vehicle behaves much like an inverted pendulum moving on the horizontal plane. Control of the sliding kingpin motion allows us to stabilise the semi-trailer by compensating for its every deviation away from the nominal position. A simple proportional-derivative (PD) control law proved adequate for a wide variation of road conditions for straight line braking.


Keywords: articulated trucks; jackknifing; vehicle control; vehicle modelling; anti-jackknife devices; heavy vehicles; vehicle accidents; tractor semi-trailers; kingpin junction; sliding kingpin motion; vehicle stabilisation; PD control; straight line braking.