To determine the maneuverability of three-link road trains type “B-triple” with steered axles of semi-trailers dollies
DOI: 10.14669/am/189736
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Summary
This study addresses the maneuverability challenges associated with three-link road trains, specifically the “B-triple” configuration used for container transportation. While extending vehicle length to transport multiple containers offers significant energy savings and reduced environmental pollution compared to two-link trains, it introduces critical issues regarding stability and maneuverability. The research aims to determine the maneuverability indicators of “B-triple” road trains equipped with steered axles on semi-trailer dollies, utilizing a dual drive control system to mitigate these operational difficulties. The authors developed a kinematic model to analyze the turning behavior of the three-link road train. The study focuses on low-speed maneuvering conditions, assuming pure rolling of wheels, and evaluates two distinct control schemes: one with front steered axles on the semi-trailer dolly and another with rear steered axles. The model incorporates dual drive control, where the rotation angle of the steered axle is determined by non-linear feedback from the folding angles between the road train links. The analysis calculates key maneuverability metrics, including the trajectories of the road train links relative to the main vehicle trajectory and the overall traffic lane width required during turns. The results indicate that when entering a turn with slight differences in the folding angles of the road train links, the steered axles of the semi-trailer dolly turn in the direction opposite to the turn. This counter-steering action reduces the overall traffic lane width. During circular motion, the use of steered semi-trailers decreased the overall traffic lane by approximately 2 meters compared to non-steered configurations. Despite this reduction in lane width, the study concludes that the current design does not meet established maneuverability requirements. The authors note that previous studies on similar configurations with non-steered or directly controlled links also failed to meet regulatory standards. The significance of this work lies in its demonstration that while dual drive control on steered axles can reduce the spatial footprint of three-link road trains during turns, it is insufficient to fully resolve maneuverability issues. The findings suggest that further improvements in the maneuverability of three-link road trains must be sought through alternative design modifications rather than solely relying on the current kinematic control methods. This highlights the need for continued development in multi-link vehicle architectures to balance the efficiency gains of container transport with safe and compliant operational characteristics.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-21 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-21 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-21 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-25 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
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