Lateral Stability Control of a Tractor-Semitrailer at High Speed

Abstract

To improve the high-speed lateral stability of the tractor-semitrailer, a lateral stability control strategy based on the additional yaw moment caused by differential braking is proposed and investigated based on the co-simulation environment. First of all, a five-degree-of-freedom (5-DOF) yaw-roll dynamic model of the tractor-semitrailer is established, and the model accuracy is verified. Secondly, the lateral stability control strategy of the tractor-semitrailer is proposed, two yaw moment controllers and the braking torque distributor are designed. Then, the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy and the influence of the yaw moment controller on the lateral stability of the tractor-semitrailer are investigated under the high-speed lane-change maneuvers. Finally, the controller robustness is discussed. Research results show that the proposed high-speed lateral stability control strategy can ensure the tractor-semitrailer to perform safely the single lane-change (SLC) maneuver at 110 km/h and the double lane-change (DLC) maneuver at 88 km/h; the yaw moment controller has significant influence on the lateral dynamic performance of the tractor-semitrailer; compared with the proportional-derivative (PD) control, the model predictive control (MPC) can make the tractor-semitrailer obtain better lateral stability under high-speed lane-change maneuvers; MPC and PD controllers exhibit good robustness to the considered vehicle parameter uncertainties.