Numerical Study of Bernoulli Effect on Bus Controllability and Driving Safety
A bus in motion is vulnerable to strong aerodynamic forces that may interfere with its controllability and operational safety. On mountainous highways—especially highways along deep gorges—or under extreme weather conditions, the lateral wind distribution is not always uniform and consequently produces the Bernoulli effect. The objective of this study was to investigate its specific impact on bus safety by using a hybrid method of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and kinematics simulations. An ordinary bus was chosen as the analysis object, and its three-dimensional model was established in SolidWorks. CFD experiments were conducted in ANSYS/Fluent to estimate the lateral aerodynamic forces. The smart driving system based on the directional control model was built in MATLAB/Simulink to replicate the average driving experience. Then a cosimulation of Adams/Car with Simulink was implemented to quantify and assess the bus handling and stability performance. The CFD simulations report that the aerodynamic force induced by the Bernoulli effect is not negligible for an ordinary bus. As the gradient of wind speed variation increases to over 5 m/s per meter in the lateral direction, the ratio of the aerodynamic force to its gravity exceeds 2%. Kinematics simulations prove that the bus lateral chassis acceleration and the lateral displacement both reached alarm values under the adverse conditions. The study is expected to offer a useful tool and reference for bus accident prevention and analysis in strong wind zones with frequent asymmetric winds. It may also help improve vehicle handling and stability design, especially for oversized vehicles.
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780309441650
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Authors:
- Zhou, Hao
- Wang, Lu
- Cheng, Jianchuan
- Ma, Yang
- Publication Date: 2017
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Web
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: pp 74–82
- Monograph Title: Motorcycles, Trucks, Buses, and Roundabouts
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Serial:
- Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
- Issue Number: 2637
- Publisher: Transportation Research Board
- ISSN: 0361-1981
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Aerodynamic force; Aircraft dynamic stability; Behavior; Buses; Crash causes; Driving; Intelligent vehicles
- Identifier Terms: Bernoulli's hypothesis
- Subject Areas: Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01624342
- Record Type: Publication
- ISBN: 9780309441650
- Report/Paper Numbers: 17-01860
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Jan 30 2017 9:54AM