THEORETICAL STABILITY ANALYSES OF THE CORNERING BEHAVIOR OF 3-WHEEL AND 4-WHEEL VEHICLES

A method that, disregarding the effects of vehicle dynamics and the ch ange of vehicle speed in a short period of time presented by F. Uffelm an, is used to predict the turning behaviours of three- and four- whee l vehicles in acceleration and in braking. A tyre mechanics model deve loped by Dugoff, Fancher, and Segal is used. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rollover resistance, oversteer/understeer, and the sliding of wheels. The effects of the drive arrangements are also discussed. The results indicate that a proper engineered three-wheel v ehicle can be as stable as a properly engineered four-wheel vehicle.