Rollover dynamics of a narrow tilting three-wheeled vehicle

Abstract

A narrow-track vehicle possesses many advantages like fuel efficiency and reduced road footprint among others. But the main drawback of this model stems from the fact that they tend to rollover more easily due to their narrow base area. In order to overcome this rollover instability, these vehicles are made to tilt to obtain increased virtual base area. The focus of this paper is to analyse the minimum lean angle necessary for a narrow three-wheeled vehicle under lateral acceleration to negotiate a curve safely. In addition, the influence of the horizontal positions of the centre of mass of the vehicle over the rollover speeds is studied.