Design, Manufacturing, Validation of a Multi-Orientation Tilt Test Bench for Testing Vehicles Rollover and Tests of ATV-Quad for Agricultural Applications

Abstract

A rollover test bench has been designed, manufactured, and validated for analyzing the all-terrain vehicle (ATV)-Quad overturn of diverse vehicles in different configurations, such as installing a rollover protection system (ROPS), considering drivers of different physical constitutions, the appropriate use of safety belts, or having a full or empty fuel tank. The main purpose of this research is to determine the tilt angle of the vehicle that triggers the ATV-Quad overturn. The scope of the design and development of the newly conceived bench include the mechanical structure, the electronics and the control. It can simulate static and dynamic rollover in different directions. As a main conclusion, it can be stated that the performance of the test bench was successful, since it allowed for the development of several ATV models, equipped with different dummies, in a variety of configurations. In particular, it was possible to assess the effectivity of the AD-ROPS system (automatically deployed ROPS), regarding the protection of the driver of the vehicle. Moreover, multiple tests, performed with diverse ATV-Quads in the developed bench and in different configurations, have been reported and their results discussed.