Study of Roll Motions in Highly-Filled Tank Trucks Using Minimum Instrumentation

Field measurements of the roll response of a 98%-filled tank truck are reported in this paper. Typical cargo and driving situations are considered, together with driving the vehicle on designated tracks on a flat surface. Instrumentation included a laterally oriented accelerometer and a GPS system. The different peaks in the Power Spectra Density Analysis of the resulting signals are correlated to sprung and unsprung masses resonances and cargo sloshing. Results reveal that the sloshing-related spectral magnitude compares with that of the natural motion of the vehicle mass, thus implying that sloshing of liquid cargo within tank trucks, even for such high fill levels, affects the lateral stability of such vehicles.