The legal requirements placed upon the braking systems of commercial vehicles have increased significantly. An alternative to the existing drum brakes are disc brakes. Both, drum and disc brakes, were investigated on an inertia brake dynamometer and installed in a heavy duty truck. The results are discussed in depth in this paper. The fundamental design of an electronically controlled braking system and its advantages over the series air braking system are also described. The above mentioned optimization influences the compatibility between the towing vehicle and trailer as well as the braking behaviour of the truck-trailer combination. To study this, the braking forces of both truck-trailer units are modulated separately. Their influence on the directional stability of the truck-trailer combination is analyzed.
Abstract