Road trains (RT) are the main transport in agriculture. However, their accident rate is quite high. In the vehicles movement research their design characteristics and operating modes are mainly improved. The main way to reduce the accident rate remains the speed limit. The authors proposed methods (confirmed by the issued patents) for ensuring the stability of the RT movement by changing the design of trailer devices. The purpose of this work is to form a mathematical model for assessing the stability of the RT movement in the presence of side effects (modeling of sharp turns, impacts). Methods of analysis and synthesis, mathematical analysis, and vector geometry were applied. The process of RT yawing on the highway is split into a number of stages, for which the laws of changing its geometry and kinematics are formulated. Side effect leads to increase in the RT impulse (lateral oscillations increase the speed), or to a violation of stability (the movement amplitude goes beyond the highway or tipping). This model can be used to analyze the stability of the RT movement and evaluate methods to influence it in order to reduce the probability of accidents.
In this paper, we conduct a mathematical analysis of the model of ensuring the road trains movement stability by changing the design of coupling devices to determine the critical characteristic parameters of the road trains, which result in the loss of en-route directional stability under external action. The concept of the model was to separate the process of yawing of the road trains and its elements (due to external perturbing action) on the highway into several typical stages. The main parameters of the stages (the displacement amplitude and rotation angle of the road trains elements in relation to the driving direction) were determined based on the initial conditions of the road trains movement, the force and duration of the external action. The most dangerous areas of external action application to the road trains were determined in this paper. The maximum permissible exposure limit should not exceed 0.5–1.0% of the road trains trailer momentum, with duration having the greater effect than the amount of impact. The results obtained can be used in mechanical engineering to improve the road trains performance.
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