Characteristics of Fifth Wheel and its Influence on handling and maneuvering of Articulated Heavy vehicles

Abstract

Articulated vehicles have been the subject of study for long. The risks entailed with every mistake and accident involving these vehicles, dwarf any other mode of road transport. Since, articulated vehicles are used for transporting everything, or nearly everything on land, not only are they significant for economic concerns, they also impact human safety on the road. These risks escalate with the increasing vehicle length and amount of cargo carried. Fifth-wheels are an important component of articulated vehicles. Their behaviour has been often simplified in the existing literature. In this study, a fifth-wheel model is developed to represent its influence on the vehicle behaviour. Tests are conducted to capture the interactions at the fifth-wheel under different conditions, commonly encountered during everyday driving. These test results are then analysed and a fifth-wheel model is proposed based on the observations. It is then validated and generalized in applicability using two different vehicle models replicating the test scenarios. Furthermore, the proposed model is used to simulate the maneuvers commonly encountered and the behaviour is compared. It was observed that the articulation angle achieved during these manaeuvers shows significant difference from their counterparts. This in turn effects the lateral acceleration of the vehicle combination, which can be seen in its overall trajectory during the maneuver.