Influence of Chassis Torsional Stiffness of an Agricultural Vehicle on Rollover Stability

Multi-purpose agricultural tractors are vehicles commonly utilized in off-road environments with significant slope variations. The rollover stability of these vehicles during their operational tasks is a crucial aspect. This paper aims to investigate the impact of the chassis torsional flexibility on improving the rollover stability of an agricultural vehicle. For this purpose, numerical analyses are performed using a multi-body model of the vehicle, which was validated with experimental measurements. Static simulations are performed to examine the quasi-static rollover angle under different loading conditions, taking into account various levels of chassis torsional stiffness. Dynamic simulations are then run to replicate the vehicle behavior when encountering a pothole on a banked road under different loading conditions. The results underline that by decreasing the torsional flexibility of the chassis the road holding increases, although it only marginally decreases the rollover angle.