The Braking Safety of Heavy Commercial Vehicles and Its Assessment With Special Regard to Relevant Properties of the Vehicle and Braking System

The braking safety of heavy commercial vehicles depends on how the single vehicles of a road train influence each other with respect to braking behavior, braking efficiency and vehicle oscillations.

The Automotive Engineering Department of the Technical University of Darmstadt investigated the braking safety in a research project funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and has developed a braking safety number. To guarantee the interchangeability of the single vehicles of a train, attention is paid to the characteristics of the brake systems and of the vehicles.

Results are presented of both many road tests and calculations with a computer model comprising important road and vehicle parameters, such as bounce and pitch motions and driving around bends or downhill.