1968 WINTER TEST REPORT

THIS IS A REPORT OF THE 1968 WINTER TESTS ON ICE AND SNOW COVERED SURFACES TO EVALUATE VARIOUS EQUIPMENT, DESIGN FEATURES AND ACCESSORIES FOR MOTOR VEHICLES, AS WELL AS VARIOUS DRIVING TECHNIQUES. TESTED WERE: CONTROLLABILITY OF TRIPLE BOTTOM TRUCKS WHEN STOPPING UNDER ICY CONDITIONS; TUNGSTEN CARBIDE STEEL STUDDED TIRES; EFFECT OF WHEEL LOAD ON COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION; MICROSIPED TIRES; FRICTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OF SALT, SAND AND CINDER SPREADS; GYROMATIC SAFETY CONTROL; LIQUID TIRE CHAIN; AND DRIVER EDUCATION WORKSHOPS. A DESCRIPTION OF TEST EQUIPMENT AND GENERAL PROCEDURES IS PRESENTED. SOME CONCLUSIONS REACHED FROM THE 1968 TESTING ARE: CONTROLLABILITY OF TRIPLE BOTTOM TRUCKS STOPPING UNDER ICY CONDITIONS DEPENDS UPON THE LOAD COMBINATIONS OF THE TRAILERS AND THE DEGREE OF CURVATURE INVOLVED. TUNGSTEN CARBIDE STEEL TIRES ON THE DRIVE WHEELS OF A VEHICLE DOES NOT MATERIALLY INCREASE ITS CORNERING CAPACITY; HOWEVER INSTALLED ON ALL FOUR WHEELS, THE CAPACITY TO CORNER ON 213 FOOT RADIUS ON A GLARE OF ICE IS INCREASED BY 50 TO 60%. INCREASED WHEEL LOAD IS ACCOMPANIED BY A DECREASE IN COEFFICIENT ON GLARE ICE REGARDLESS OF TREAD TYPE. WHEEL LOAD DOES NOT APPEAR TO SIMILARLY AFFECT THE COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION BETWEEN ICE AND A TIRE WITH A REINFORCED TIRE CHAIN. MICROSIPED HIGHWAY TREAD TIRES PROVIDE GREATER COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION AGAINST GLARE ICE THAN IDENTICAL TREAD TIRES NOT MICROSIPED. APPLICATION OF CRUSHED ROCK SALT TO ICE SURFACE, AT THE SAME RATE AS APPLICATIONS OF SAND OR CINDERS, RESULTS IN IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENTS OF COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION SOMEWHAT GREATER THAN THAT DUE TO THE APPLICATION OF SAND AND SOMEWHAT LESS THAN THAT DUE TO THE APPLICATION OF CINDERS. NO CIRCUMSTANCES WERE FOUND IN WHICH THE GYROMATIC SAFETY CONTROL UNIT SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED THE PERFORMANCE OF THE VEHICLE, AND IN ONE MANEUVER--SPECIFICALLY HIGH SPEED PYLON TESTS ON DRY PAVEMENT--THE PRESENCE OF THE UNIT IN THE CAR PRODUCED AN ADVERSE EFFECT. LIQUID TIRE CHAIN INCREASED THE TRACTIVE CAPACITY BY THE DRIVE WHEELS 100% WHEN INITIALLY APPLIED; THE EFFECT WAS TEMPORARY, WITH LITTLE RESIDUAL EFFECT, ONCE THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION. DRIVER EDUCATION WORKSHOPS APPEARED TO BE EFFECTIVE AND BENEFICIAL TO PARTICIPANTS. /SRIS/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 61 Pp, 20 FIG, 8 TAB
• Corporate Authors:

  National Safety Council

  /Committee On Winter Driving Hazards
  ,   United States 
• Publication Date: 1968

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Carbides; Coefficient of friction; Cold weather; Driver training; Halite; Ice; Operations; Snow; Studded tires; Tire treads; Tires; Trucks; Tungsten; Wheel loads
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Motor Carriers; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223214
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 26 1970 12:00AM