Behavior of vehicles subjected to wind gusts

Abstract

This analysis gives the solution for the motion of a fourwheeled, rubber-tired road vehicle subjected to a particular type of gust load. After initially going on a straight forward driving path the car undergoes the action of a wind gust. The forces arising from this sidewise acting wind gust are applied as step functions in time. The equations of motion, in conjunction with relations expressing the tire behavior, the elastic steering system behavior and a compatibility relation for wheel contact, are derived. A perturbation procedure is applied to the governing relations and in the solutions the attention is directed to the response of the vehicle in the period of time immediately following the action of the wind gust. With the resultant solution an illustrative problem of a typical passenger car is given. The numerical results are discussed and shown graphically.