AN EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF BUS-INDUCED AERODYNAMIC DISTURBANCES ON ADJACENT VEHICLE CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE

THE STUDY COMPRISED FULL SCALE EXPERIMENTS, WIND TUNNEL TESTS AND DRIVER/VEHICLE/DISTURBANCE RESPONSE AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSES. THE RESULTS ARE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF OVERALL DRIVER/VEHICLE SAFETY PERFORMANCE, WITH EMPHASIS ON STEERING CONTROL AND SIDE TO SIDE DEVIATIONS OF THE DISTURBED VEHICLE'S PATH ALONG THE ROADWAY. THE BASIC SITUATIONS STUDIED INVOLVE A STATION WAGON AND AN INTERCITY BUS, A TWO LANE ROAD, OVERTAKING AND PASSING AND VEHICLE-BUS ONCOMING, WITHIN THIS FRAMEWORK THE FOLLOWING PARAMETERS WERE VARIED: BUS WIDTH AND SHAPE, LATERAL SEPARATION AND LANE WIDTH, AMBIENT WIND MAGNITUDE AND DIRECTION, VEHICLE-BUS SPEEDS, AND DRIVER SKILL AND ALERTNESS. SEVERAL OTHER DISTURBED VEHICLES INVOLVING DIFFERENT AERODYNAMIC SHAPES AND HANDLING PROPERTIES WERE CONSIDERED, ALSO. SPECIFIC ATTENTION WAS GIVEN TO THE EFFECT OF INCREASING BUS WIDTH FROM 96 TO 102 INCHES. THE RESULTS ARE INTERPRETED IN TERMS OF POSSIBLE ACTIONS AND REMEDIAL IMPLICATIONS IN THE AREAS OF ROADWAY DESIGN, BUS SIZE AND CONFIGURATION, AND DRIVER/VEHICLE HANDLING DYNAMICS AND CONTROL CHARACTERISTICS. /FHWA/

• Corporate Authors:

  Systems Technology, Incorporated

  13766 South Hawthorne Boulevard
  Hawthorne, CA  United States  90250

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Weir, D H
  • HOH, R H
  • Heffley, R K
  • Teper, G L
• Publication Date: 0

Media Info

• Pagination: 153 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aerodynamics; Automated vehicle control; Buses; Drivers; Speed; Steering; Traffic lanes; Vehicle performance; Vehicle safety; Width
• Old TRIS Terms: Vehicular safety
• Subject Areas: Highways; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222629
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: DOT-FH-11-7570
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 8 1973 12:00AM