A driver controlled fuel truck roll-over situation, including the effect of load motions on the transient cornering behaviour of the vehicle, is analyzed. The vehicle velocity before entering the curve is 20 m/s. A driver controller is applied to account for steering actions. A new driver model is presented which is sensitive to the vehicle roll angle. The path deviation is reduced with this new driver model, but the risk of vehicle roll-over is increased. A dynamic threshold value for the steering angle is used to determine a worst case situation with response to the fill level of the tank. It is found that the relative difference between rigidly suspended and rolling load is largest for a fill level of about 40%. for a fill level of about 40%. For three model configurations the same specified path, radius of turn of 83.3 m, is used as input for the simulations. The results show that load motions and driver behaviour influence the threshold values for roll-over. The case is studied where the tractor semi-trailer fuel tank truck after the roll-over slides over the pavement onto a tree. The tree, with a trunk diameter of 0.4 m, is assumed sufficiently strong to withstand the collision without any significant deformations. Even in that case it is found that rupture of the tank is unlikely for the accident analyzed.
Abstract