Estimating Truck's Critical Cornering Speed and Factor of Safety
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 118, Issue 1
Abstract
Fully laden trucks are prone to rollover when exceeding a critical cornering speed. After an accident, authorities, both highway engineers and the police, often need to establish a vehicle's speed from tire marks and other physical evidence. This paper outlines the relative precision of equations of varying complexity used to estimate a truck's critical rollover speed based on tire marks. An error analysis is compared with a limited tachometer data base to evaluate the accuracy of the speed‐estimating equations. The study shows that for most situations with fully laden, rigid trucks, the simple lumped‐parameter model gives an acceptable estimate of the rollover speed for highway design engineers and the police. Also, a review of the lateral acceleration generated by a vehicle negotiating a minimum‐radius curve found that the acceleration is very close to the level needed to tip over a truck. Based in part on these findings a method for developing a reasonable estimate of level of safety is discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Ang, A., and Tang, W. (1984). Probability concepts in engineering planning and design. John Wiley and Sons, Toronto, Canada.
2.
Byatt, R., and Watts, R. (1980). Manual of road accident investigation. Pitman Publishing Ltd., England.
3.
Ervin, R. D. (1983). “The influence of size and weight variables on the roll stability of heavy duty trucks.” Paper 831163, Society of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale, PA.
4.
“Freightliner Heil. advanced concept truck.” (1990). Truck Engineering. 2(1), 27–29.
5.
Hart, G. (1982). Uncertainty analysis, loads, and safety in structural engineering. Prentice Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
6.
Hauer, E. (1988). “The engineering of safety and safety engineering.” Multi‐Perspective Traffic Safety Conf., University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
7.
Limpert, R. (1978). Motor vehicle accident reconstruction and cause analysis. The Michie Co., Charlottesville, Va.
8.
Mechanics of heavy‐duty trucks and truck combinations. (1985). University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Ann Arbor, Mich.
9.
Moyer, R., and Berry, D. (1940). “Marking highway curves with safe speed indicators.” 20th Annual Meeting of Highway Research Board, Washington, D.C.
10.
O'Flaherty, C. (1974). Highways and traffic, 2nd Ed., Edward Arnold Publishers Ltd., London, England.
11.
Oglesby, C., and Hicks, R. (1982). Highway engineering, 4th Ed., John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.
12.
Policy on geometric design highways and streets. (1984). American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), Washington, D.C.
13.
Rivers, R. W. (1980). Traffic accident investigators' handbook. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill.
14.
Snelgrove, F. (1980). The fuel economy, stability and pavement effects of the wide base radial tire. Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Downsview, Ontario, Canada.
15.
Taborek, J. (1957). “Mechanics of vehicles.” Machine Design, Vol. 29, 13 part series from 30 May to 12 December, Cleveland, Ohio.
16.
Wolkowicz, M., and Billing, A. (1982). Commercial vehicle accident survey. Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communication, Downsview, Ontario, Canada.
17.
Woodroofe, J., Billing, J., and Nisonger, R. (1983). “Improved Stability and Handling of Truck Combinations with the Double Drawbar Dolly.” Paper 831162, Society of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale, PA.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 ASCE.
History
Published online: Jan 1, 1992
Published in print: Jan 1992
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.