Braking of the tractor-semi-trailer set in a rectilinear motion

Because of the increasing share of cargo movement using road transport, the issue of safety hazards related to the movement of trucks and road sets remains an essential element of the overall road safety system. Braking is the primary defensive maneuver in accident situations. The main purpose of this work is to present a simulation method for assessing potential hazards occurring during the braking of an articulated vehicle (tractor-semitrailer combination). A relatively simple, quasistatic mathematical model of road vehicle set braking was presented. Several qualitative and quantitative criteria for safety evaluation were proposed, and a series of exemplary calculations illustrated with time characteristics of the quantities describing the road vehicle set movement. These calculations show that the proposed method may be helpful for the assessment of braking safety depending on the selected factors relating to the operational condition (the way the trailer is loaded, failure of the brake system, road surface condition).