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.
Travelling at higher speeds over any type of roads could disturb the stability of motion, which is manifested through lateral oscillations of the trailer in a horizontal plane – trailer wobbling. This research is aimed at building a mathematical model of tractor-trailer motion affected by the external action of lateral forces and estimating how efficient stabilizing couplers could be. A «double pendulum» design diagram is used to build the model. It is shown that the stability of motion is impacted at most by the ratio of the inertia radius (relative to the vertical axis passing through the center of gravity) to the base of the trailer, which depends on the type of cargo, its distribution within the trailer body, the heterogeneity of the cargo material and so on. It is demonstrated that the critical velocity of a trailer would increase when stabilizers are used. Changing the design of the trailer should also positively affect the stability of a tractor-trailer due to faster and more efficient damping of lateral oscillations impacting its movement.
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