Abstract:
Articulated suspended skid steered wheeled platforms belong to a class of “High Mobility
Vehicles” that suit military applications due to their extreme maneuverability. However, due
to high CG these platforms are unstable at higher speeds and prone to rollover. This
limitation has restricted their use to slow speed applications like UGVs/ rovers only. Limited
research is available on rollover behavior of skid steered articulated suspension based
vehicles, that too further limited to only indirect roll control schemes like wheel torque
control etc. This research contributes to study of factors affecting rollover propensity of
subject vehicles and devises scheme for rollover mitigation through direct control of
suspension system. An 8x8 wheeled APC has been modeled in TRUCKSIM (vehicle
dynamics software) to further carry out simulations to analyze how roll over propensity
varies under influence of various factors. Test procedure of Double Lane Change (DLC) has
been adopted for detailed investigation. Variables adjustable through suspension system have
been analyzed to devise rollover control scheme. Most important factors i.e. CG height
adjustment and lateral load transfer have been chosen to be controlled through individual
wheel ride height adjustment. Rollover control scheme has been implemented in
SIMULINK/MATLAB and co-simulations done with TRUCKSIM to analyze efficacy of
scheme developed. Active suspension system model has been suggested with virtual model
setup in MSC ADAMS (multi-body dynamics software). Simulation results achieved from a
standard vehicle are compared with the one fitted with rollover controller which indicate
significant improvement in rollover behavior. This research will assist designers in improving
top speed of said platforms as well as improve handling and stability so as to make them
compatible for high speed military applications like Armored Personnel Carrier (APC)/
Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV).
