Design and development of a variable hitching system for improving stability of tractor trailer combination

Abstract

a b s t r a c t A variable hitching system was designed using finite element analysis and developed to provide hitching height variable from 0.4 m to 0.75 m with respect to the ground using tractor hydraulics. This system facilitated easy attachment of unbalanced trailer to the tractor irrespective of trailer hitch position. Using this system, the front weight utilization factor of tractor improved on an average by 6.13% and 7.37% by decreasing the hitch height from 0.75 m to 0.4 m while hitching unbalanced trailer uphill on inclined unpaved road of 9 with payloads of 3 ton and 4 ton, respectively. A similar improvement of 7.99% and 9.18% was possible on 12 inclined surface. The slip of tractor on 9 inclined unpaved road was decreased by 4.35% and 5.17% for tractor with 3 ton and 4 ton payloads, respectively by increasing the hitching height from 0.4 m to 0.75 m. A similar decrease of 5.60% and 6.99% was possible on 12 inclined surface. Decreasing skid was also observed while pulling trailer downhill with decreasing hitching height. With the use of variable hitching system, front weight utilization factor, slip/skid could be controlled to improve the stability of tractor trailer combination while travelling on inclined surface.

Review of electro-hydraulic hitch system control method of automated tractors

“…Errors occur when tractor non-driven wheels slip 2. Limited accuracy Raheman et al [69] ; Al-Suhaibani et al [44] ; Pranav et al [70,71] ; Kumar et al [72] ; Kumar et al [73]…”

Design and optimization of a new terrain-adaptive hitch mechanism for hilly tractors

“…Only when the design parameters of each rod meet the lifting performance requirements, other performance analysis is meaningful, otherwise, tractors will not work normally. Based on Equation (12), the curves of the vertical lifting force of two hitch mechanisms changing with the piston displacement of the lifting hydraulic cylinder can be obtained, as shown in Figure 7. It can be seen from the figure that the change trend of vertical lifting force curves of the original hitch mechanism and the new hitch mechanism is the same, that is, the vertical lifting force gradually decreases with the increasing piston displacement of the lifting hydraulic cylinder.…”

“…In western developed countries, hilly tractors with low ground clearance, wide wheelbase and automatic body leveling system are mainly studied, and there are some accumulation in intelligent design and electronic control [3][4][5][6][7] . In the aspect of hitch mechanisms, a number of new devices suitable for hilly and mountainous areas have emerged, and a great deal of research has been done on the attitude adjustment of farm implements and the stability of tractor operation [8][9][10][11][12][13] . However, foreign hilly tractors, especially in Europe and North America, have strong power and large size, their direct introduction and use cannot well adapt to the complex hilly and mountainous terrain in China.…”

Effect of hitch distance on haulage performance for 2WD tractors: A theoretical analysis

“…1b). There have been few research studies on vertical height (Sahay & Tiwari, 2004;Šmerda & Bauer, 2007;Pranav et al, 2012Pranav et al, , 2015Kumar & Raheman, 2015) of single hitch point, but no attempt has been made for the hitch distance (HD) on haulage performance. Theoretically, the HD also affects the weight transfer (Eq.…”