Handling performance of truck–trailer vehicles: A state–of–the–art survey

Abstract

This paper reviews the state of theoretical and experimental research relative to the handling performance of truck–trailer vehicles. Seventy articles have been reviewed for this purpose. The survey comprises three major sections corresponding to the traditional classification of vehicle handling performance: directional performance, braking performance and combined directional and braking performance. Under certain circumstances the truck–trailer vehicles can be prone to dangerous behaviour: snaking, jack–knifing, trailer swing. Down to the present day the research of such risky driving situations does not appear to have brought satisfactory results. The analyses that have been performed offer only a few general recommendations (some of them rather contradictory). However, no absolute values are encountered. Important theoretical papers are scarce and systematical experimental research seems to be sporadic. There are few comparisons between theoretical and experimental results. Investigations of the influence of the driver upon the behaviour of the whole system (driver - articulated vehicle - road) are totally absent. This paper concludes with some recommendations for future research consistent with the findings of the review.