Abstract
The article presents the experimental strength evaluation of modular car trailers with a maximum permissible total mass of up to 3500 kg and its application to assess the mechanical strength of box-type car trailers. Tests were carried out using an original test bench dedicated to fatigue testing. They aimed to compare a trailer made in traditional technology with a trailer equipped with a load-carrying structure containing a sandwich panel. As a result of the conducted work, the displacement values of the measurement points were measured. The deformation form of the trailer made in the traditional technology was compared with the trailer containing the sandwich panel. The proposed method of experimental strength evaluation of modular car trailers enables a quantitative assessment of the mechanical strength of the load-carrying structures of trailers. This results in improved safety of trailer operation in road traffic by identifying the critical elements of the load-carrying structure at the early design phase before the trailer is allowed to run on the road.
Highlights
The issue of reliability and durability of machines, devices, and vehicles is widely discussed worldwide
Mathematical and statistical methods are of particular interest in determining useful features of a mechanical object [12]
Apart from this, the growing diversity of useful functions of products leads to the increased variety of design features of designed mechanical objects
Summary
The issue of reliability and durability of machines, devices, and vehicles is widely discussed worldwide. Experimental testing conducted on dedicated testing tracks is used to assess durability in operational conditions, it is not formally required by the certify- This type of evaluation is time-consuming and costly due to the necessity of transporting uncertified vehicles to a test track to perform long-lasting trials. The above-described bench testing methods of vehicle strength, including light trailers, consider the limited variety of the load cycles; some of the load cycles existing in operational conditions are skipped. Such tests require specialized data acquiring units that make it possible to evaluate the fatigue life of the analyzed object. First examined trailer (P1) was characterized by a floor made of a 9 mm thick waterproof, antislip plywood attached to the frame com-
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