Effects of Kingpin and Caster Offset on Braking Stability of Long Wheelbase Bus

Abstract

Wheel alignment parameters play a dominant role in handling dynamics of a vehicle. In this paper, the authors have discussed the effects of variation of the caster offset and kingpin offset on different braking manoeuvres for a long wheelbase bus. Five levels of each parameter have been considered for the sensitivity analysis. Effects of kingpin and caster offset, on deceleration stability of the bus, has been evaluated with response analysis of three braking manoeuvres, i.e. (i) Performance-based standards (PBS) braking method, (ii) Split$$\mu $$ braking and (iii) Brake in turn. The response metrics studied include yaw rate, yaw angle of sprung mass, Tyre side slip angles, body slip angle, lateral speed, etc. The results obtained indicate significant scope for improvement of braking dynamics of the vehicle with appropriate selection and real-time control of the wheel geometry parameters.