Occupant Protection in Earth-Moving Machines

The problem of stability against rollover during operation of earth-moving machines is one of special significance. Primarily the result of operation-related mistakes made by the machine operator, the loss of stability can lead to turnover of the vehicle and, in unfavorable cases on the edge of a slope, to multiple rollover. This paper is conceived in the form of a laboratory investigation and represents the continuation of the field rollover tests conducted in 1979 at the Institute of Automotive Engineering at the Technical University of Berlin. The laboratory investigations are intended to discover a way to effective protection of the machine operator in the event of lateral turnover, as well as to enable presentation of proposals for test regulations for the vehicle restraint system and for the resistant strength of the seat.