Design of an Active Unilateral Brake Control System for Five-Axle Tractor-Semitrailer Based on Sensitivity Analysis

Abstract

SUMMARY This paper presents the results of a parametric sensitivity analysis of a five-axle tractor-semitrailer vehicle combination using 3-DOF linear yaw/plane model. The first order logarithmic sensitivity functions are derived with respect to several vehicle design parameters. For stabilization of the vehicle's directional behaviour a fairly new control concept called “Active Unilateral Braking Control (AUBC)” acting on the tractor rear wheel's in order to produce a stabilizing yaw torque is investigated. The AUBC system improves not only the directional stability, but also affects the roll dynamics of the vehicle. The sensitivity of the controlled vehicle system with linear quadratic controller (LQR) is also examined, a robust controller design procedure is proposed as a result of the sensitivity analysis. The robustness of this controller in the presence of both internal (including parametric uncertainties, non-linear dynamics) and external disturbances (such as road irregularities and side wind) allows its implementation with confidence with a non-linear vehicle model. The applicability of this control system to a non-linear vehicle model is tested using a 34 DOF, non-linear vehicle model of the tractor-semitrailer combination.