Automatic Stabilization of Tractor Jackknifing in Tractor-Semitrailer Trucks

This paper describes an automatic stabilizing technique to prevent tractor jackknifing in tractor-semitrailer trucks. This stabilizing technique consists of the detection of the onset of a jackknife and the subsequent application of corrective action. The onset of a jackknife is detected through the behavior of the drive wheels, and the corrective action consists of a form of corrective braking; that is, the simultaneous operation of the antiskid systems at all axles of the truck. The results obtained in this study indicate that the stabilizing technique may effectively prevent the development of a tractor jackknife during braking. Furthermore, the implementation of this technique in a real truck would be relatively simple and require a minimum of additional hardware.