Roll Dynamic Response of an Articulated Vehicle carrying liquids

The directional response and roll stability characteristics of a partly filled tractor semi-trailer vehicle, with cylindrical tank, are investigated in various maneuvers. The dynamic interaction of liquid cargo with the tractor semi-trailer vehicle is also evaluated by integrating a dynamic slosh model of the partly filled tank with five-degrees-of-freedom of a tractor semi-trailer tank model. The dynamic fluid slosh within the tank is modeled using three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, coupled with volume-of-fluid equations and analysed using the FLUENT software. The coupled tank-vehicle model is subsequently analysed to determine the roll stability characteristics for different maneuvers. The results showed the interaction of fluid slosh with vehicle's dynamic. Another findings of this investigation also revealed that the roll stability of a tractor semi-trailer tank carrying liquid was highly affected by fluid sloshing and caused degradation of roll stability in comparison with vehicle carrying rigid cargo.