The Australian transport industry is focused heavily on road transport. Additional payload is allowed by most road authorities for heavy vehicles (HVs) equipped with road friendly suspension (RFS). The move to higher payloads using HVs with RFS has allowed the road freight industry to absorb some of the increasing demand for long-haul freight. This paper provides more extensive results than previously published of a test regime to explore whether longitudinal air line size affects dynamic forces in HV air suspensions. The treatment test case was for a proprietary suspension system, where larger longitudinal air lines connected the test vehicles air springs. The aim of this paper is to detail further analysis from the test programme to that already published. The results lead to conclusions regarding the probability that HV dynamic wheel load forces being transmitted to pavements and within the vehicle at the chassis/spring interface may be reduced by fitting larger longitudinal air lines, thus saving on road and vehicle damage and pavement rehabilitation costs. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E217541.
Samenvatting