Estimation of Light Commercial Vehicles Stability Parameters by Results of Simulation and Experimental Research

The paper deals with the problem of estimation of stability parameters of light commercial vehicle. In contrast to previously published works of domestic and foreign scientists in this publication the evaluation the stability of vehicle is made with considering of the angular stiffness of vehicles bearing system.The paper presents the results of computer simulation of conditions of bench and road tests that allow evaluating the stability of the vehicle. A feature of the simulation is that the support system in the model (chassis, cab, body) is not a set of rigid bodies, but the finite element model, which can be deformed as a result of loads acting (as it happens in reality). Positive results of a comparative analysis of simulation results and experimental data have shown that this approach allows getting more accurate results in predicting the parameters of stability of commercial vehicles.The study allows developing a method of estimating of commercial vehicles parameters of stability. The methodology focuses on using of computer modeling capabilities, but requires the adequacy of the computer models by means for comparison of the simulation results with the data of bench and road tests.