Active and semi-active strategies using PID control method for heavy-duty truck roll stability system

Abstract

Heavy-duty trucks (HDT) play a vital role in global freight transport, but their dynamic complexity and high payload capacity present stability challenges, especially at high speeds or during direction turns, increasing risks of rollover and excessive oscillations due to load imbalance. This research focuses on designing controllers for active and semi-active roll stability systems, aiming to enhance vehicle roll stabilities. First, a dynamic model of the HDT is developed, considering the steering input from the driver as the primary excitation. Subsequently, PID controllers are designed to regulate the active roll stabilization systems on both the front and rear axles, improving vehicle roll stability during cornering and double lane changing. To further enhance roll stability while reducing energy consumption, a semi-active control approach is proposed. This approach introduces an activation threshold for the control forces in the roll stabilization system, ensuring that the system engages only when necessary. Through rigorous simulation and analysis, the proposed controllers demonstrate their effectiveness in improving vehicle roll stability during critical driving scenarios, including steady-state cornering, double lane change overtaking, and obstacle avoidance. The semi-active system, in particular, reduces the normalized load transfer by 71% on the front axle and 61% on the rear axle compared to the passive model, while also decreasing the suspension roll angle by 57% and 60% on the front and rear axles, respectively. The findings highlight the potential of semi-active control strategies in achieving a balanced trade-off between vehicle agility, comfort, and safety.