Citation

Kumar H, Watkins S, Saunders JW. Heavy Vehicle Syst. 1995; 2(3-4): 208-224.

Affiliation

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Inderscience Publishers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Aerodynamic add-on devices offer long-term fuel savings for many types of commercial vehicle. However some designs of these aerodynamic devices fitted to cabin roofs proved to be lacking in structural integrity and damage to the truck cabin roofs and possible overloading on the front axles had been reported by the trucking industry. To investigate the loads an experimental program was carried out on a freeway and rough track. Mean axle loads were found to be negligible. However, dynamic loads, in particular large peak loads, on the cabin roof will lessen the fatigue life of the cabin roof supporting mechanism and the life of the aerodynamic device due to excessive vibrations. Design of the attachment methods of aerodynamic device/roof fixtures and the aerodynamic-add-on devices needs to become an integral part of the design of the truck.