Using a Vehicle Dynamics Handbook as a Tool for Improving the Steering and Braking Performances of Heavy Trucks

This paper describes maneuvering situations that have been included in a vehicle dynamics handbook developed to summarize the effects of the mechanical properties of vehicles and components in maneuvers involving the braking and steering of straight and articulated heavy trucks. It provides descriptions of performance signatures and measures that have been applied in analyzing a set of benchmark vehicles-a straight truck, a tractor-semitrailer, a double, a triple, a truck-full-trailer, and a B-train. The sensitivities of vehicle performance to changes in component properties are used to outline how improvements in dynamic performance might be planned through a vehicle synthesis process.