Abstract
The reconstruction of tractor- semitrailer accidents as well as the handling performance of these vehicles presents a challenging problem to the engineer. Due to their geometric and inertia properties, articulated connection, and tendency to jackknife, the dynamic response of these vehicles varies significantly from that of automobiles and requires the consideration of more variables. The methodology for the development of a modular minicomputer operational mathemat- ical model for tractor- semitrailer accident reconstruction and handling problems and its verification are presented.