Search Results

In this paper, the effect of the dynamic interaction between tractor and semitrailer on the ride behaviour of heavy good vehicles is investigated. A multi-body model is constructed for a 4-axle tractor-semitrailer vehicle with flexible frames and excited by random road irregularities. The modal parameters of the connected frames are calculated using the FEM (Finite Element Method), as an integrated free vibrating structure, and incorporated with the equations of motion of the whole vehicle which are generated using the Lagrange energy approach. Frequency response analysis is carried out for random road excitations to evaluate the vehicle ride dynamics. In order to give a broad overview of the vehicle ride quality, different loading conditions are considered in the computer simulation. The results showed that the acceleration levels of vehicle components are significantly increased when the effect of an empty semitrailer is considered within the vehicle model.