Effect of an Add-on Cab on the Golf-Cart's Rollover Characteristics

The purpose of this study was to reconstruct the accident situation of a Golf-Cart with three persons in it. The cart was designed to carry two persons and their golf bags, someone had fixed an add-on cab. Tilt-table testing was carried out to estimate the rollover threshold and to measure the center-of-gravity location of the vehicle, which was used to do preliminary stability analysis for different loading conditions. Tests were carried out with and without the add-on cab. The add-on cab deteriorated the rollover characteristics by raising the center-of-gravity height, while the presence of an additional rider on the rear-left wheel arch, biased the load distribution. These two effects resulted in reducing the rollover threshold. Generally, tilt-table test results overestimates the rollover threshold, so there is a good possibility in real world situations the acceleration experienced by the vehicle during steady-turn maneuvers on an even surface could lead to rollover. Other factors like the transient vehicle response, uneven terrain, wind, or bad driving practice may further reduce this threshold value.