The Effect of Gross Vehicle Weight on the Stability of Heavy Vehicle during Cornering

Authors: Nurzaki Ikhsan, Ahmad Saifizul Abdullah, Rahizar Ramli

Abstract:

One of the functions of the commercial heavy vehicle is to safely and efficiently transport goods and people. Due to its size and carrying capacity, it is important to study the vehicle dynamic stability during cornering. Study has shown that there are a number of overloaded heavy vehicles or permissible Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) violations recorded at selected areas in Malaysia assigned by its type and category. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the correlation and effect of the GVW on heavy vehicle stability during cornering event using simulation. Various selected heavy vehicle types and category are simulated using IPG/Truck Maker® with different GVW and road condition (coefficient of friction of road surface), while the speed, driver characteristic, center of gravity of load and road geometry are constant. Based on the analysis, the relationship between GVW and lateral acceleration were established. As expected, on the same value of coefficient of friction, the maximum lateral acceleration would be increased as the GVW increases.

Keywords: Heavy Vehicle, Road Safety, Vehicle Stability, Lateral Acceleration, Gross Vehicle Weight.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1107567

References:

[1] Aleksander Hac, Todd Brown, J. Martens, Detection of Vehicle Rollover, SAE Technical Paper Series, 2004-01-1757
[2] Jacob, B., La Beaumelle, V.F., Improving Truck Safety: Potential of Weigh-in-Motion Technology, IATSS research vol. 34, pp. 9-15, 2010.
[3] New Registered Motor Vehicles (Good Vehicles) in Malaysia (2009- 2012). Malaysia’s Transport Statistics.
[4] Bixel, R.A., Heydinger, G.J., Durisek, N.J., Guenther, D.A. Effect Of Loading On Vehicle Handling. SAE paper 980228, SAE International Congress and Exposition. 1998
[5] ARRB Transport research, (1997). Assessment of Truck/Trailer Dynamics, Technical Working Paper No. 31, Contract Report, National Road Transport Commission. ISSBN 0 7306 8436 9
[6] Karim, M.R, Saifizul, A.A. Yamanaka, H., Sharizli, A.A, Rahizar, R. Degree Of Vehicle Overloading and Its Implication On Road Safety in Developing Country, Civil and Environment Research vol. 3, no. 12 pp. 20-31, 2013.
[7] Saifizul, A.A, Yamanaka, H.,Karim, M.R, Empirical Analysis Of Gross Vehicle Weight And Free Flow Speed And Consideration On Its Relation With Differential Speed Limit, Accident Analysis and Prevention vol. 43, pp. 1068-1073, 2011.
[8] C. B. Winkler R. D. Ervin, Rollover of Heavy Commercial Vehicles, The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Report No. UMTRI-99-19 August 1999.
[9] Charles M. Farmer, Adrian K. Lund, Rollover Risk of Cars and Light Trucks After Accounting for Driver and Environmental Factors, Accident Analysis and Prevention vol.34 pp.163–173, 2002.
[10] Transport Statistic Malaysia (2009-2012), Ministry of Trasportation, Malaysia pp.29-31
[11] D.A Manap, Stability of Road Vehicles During Cornering Subjected to Various Loading And Speeds, B.Eng Thesis, Department Of Mechanical Engineering Engineering Faculty University Of Malaya, Malaysia 2014
[12] Arahan Teknik Jalan 8/86 - A Guide on Geometric Design of Roads' Roads Branch PublicWorks Department Malaysia pp. 47-49