A Full-Suspension Three-Wheeled ATV System: Part I - Modeling and Parameter Values

The nonlinear dynamical equations governing a thirteen degrees-of-freedom mathematical model of a three-wheeled all-terrain vehicle/rigid-rider system are formulated in this paper. The system is composed of seven rigid bodies. The vehicle has front mechanical suspensions as well as independent rear swing-arm mechanical suspensions. At the time of this writing, no three-wheeled all-terrain vehicle of this configuration is known to exist. Hence, parameter values for this vehicle were obtained through educated engineering estimations based on information available for other three-wheeled vehicles and other engineering data.