Influence of suspended cargoes on dynamic behaviour of articulated vehicles

Articulated vehicles are often used in the transport of oscillating cargoes. Examples include tanker vehicles or refrigerated vehicles for the transport of meat. Cargo movements within articulated vehicles present the greatest potential risk of road accidents. In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed for the dynamic study of articulated vehicles carrying suspended cargoes that are assumed to be identical and uniformly distributed. A mathematical model of the articulated vehicle is derived that, in comparison with the case of a fixed cargo, has only two further degrees of freedom. For different operational conditions, the effect of the suspended cargo for the vehicle's stability is appraised. The critical speeds and the frequencies of the vehicle are then calculated.