Truck Rollover Characterization for Class-8 Tractor-Trailers Utilizing Standard Dual Tires and New-Generation Single Tires
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). National Transportation Research Center
- Dana Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI (United States). Commercial Vehicle Systems Division
- Michelin Americas Research and Development Corporation, Greenville, SC (United States)
- Clemson Univ., SC (United States). Fluor Daniel Engineering Innovation Building
- National Transportation Research Center, Inc., Knoxville, TN (United States)
The Heavy Truck Rollover Characterization Project is a major research effort conducted by the National Transportation Research Center, Inc. (NTRCI) in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Dana Corporation (Dana), Michelin Americas Research and Development Corporation (Michelin) and Clemson University (Clemson), under the NTRCIs Heavy Vehicle Safety Research Center (HVSRC) for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). ORNL provided the day-to-day management of the project. The expertise mix of this team coupled with complementary research needs and interests, and a positive can-do attitude provided an extremely positive experimental research opportunity for all involved. Furthermore, this team supplied significant and valuable resources that provided a strong positive benchmark regarding the ability to conduct research within a public-private partnership. The work conducted by this team focused on initial efforts to generate data and information on heavy truck rollover not currently available in the industry. It reflects efforts within Phases 1 and 2 of a longer-term four-phase research program. A 1999 Peterbilt 379 class-8 tractor and 2004 Wabash dry freight van trailer were the test vehicles utilized in this effort. Both were instrumented with a number of sensors to capture the dynamics of the tractor and trailer as it engaged in various testing maneuvers that included: an evasive maneuver, swept sine, constant radius, and a run-off-the-road maneuver. The run-off-the-road maneuver was discontinued because the test track could not safety accommodate such a maneuver. These maneuvers were carried out utilizing both standard dual tires and new-generation dual tires in six test series. Two test series also included the use of a wider-slider suspension. Outriggers were placed on the test vehicle to assure that an actual rollover would not occur, however, the tests were designed to generate lift-off of tires during the tests. One of the main objectives of the tests that are a part of this study was to understand how different elements (e.g., dual tires and wide-base, new-generation single tires, different trailer suspension types, etc.) affect the overall vehicle roll stability. Tilt-table tests were also performed to characterize the static rollover propensity if the tractor trailer. For all of the tests, the vehicle was loaded with ballast for a gross vehicle weight rating of 79,000 lbs., and the speeds were gradually increased so that wheel lift-off was experienced both visually and via instrumentation. A significant amount of data was collected on all maneuvers performed (1.2 Gigabytes of data from 45 data channels sampled at 0.01 sec) and information was also captured via videotaping (one camera inside the cabin and three others outside; plus one off-board camera). Due to a number of issues related to the sensors, and idiosyncrasies in the data itself, a statistically meaningful data set was not possible. However sufficient data was collected to demonstrate the trends and patterns in the heavy truck rollover phenomenon.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); National Transportation Research Center, Inc., Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; Dept. of Transportation (DOT) (United States). Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
- Contributing Organization:
- Dana Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI (United States); Michelin Americas Research and Development Corporation, Greenville, SC (United States); Clemson Univ., SC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DTFH61-03-X-00030
- OSTI ID:
- 1344099
- Report Number(s):
- DE-DTFH61-03-X-00030; NTIS Issue Number 200911
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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