Designing Articulated Vehicles for Low‐Speed Maneuverability

The low‐speed cornering of large trucks on urban streets and intersections is a major problem in terms of public safety and traffic congestion. These problems can be alleviated in two manners: (1) Modify the roadway dimensions to allow large vehicles to pass more easily; or (2) modify the size or maneuverability of the large trucks. This paper presents a methodology for the geometric design of articulated vehicle‐roadway systems for optimum low‐speed maneuverability. It is recognized that the highway and vehicle dimensions are inherently linked, and an optimization problem is formulated to achieve the largest possible truck passing through a corner in a dimensionless manner. Such an approach yields optimum truck dimensions in terms of road width. Tractor‐semitrailers moving both forward and backward, as well as tractor‐tandem trailer combinations moving forward, are considered. This paper shows the large improvement in maneuverability through the addition of trailer rear‐wheel steering. In addition to large trucks on the road, this paper can have an impact on the design of two other types of vehicles, those being internal transport systems, such as material‐handling systems in manufacturing facilities, in which space requirements must be minimized but high‐speed performance is rarely of concern, and low‐speed highway‐maintenance machinery, which must operate on a full‐lane width with minimal effect on traffic in adjacent lanes.