Agricultural tractors and earth moving machines normally have unsprung wheels for functional and economical reasons. Top speeds of such vehicles have reached the 50 ... 60 km/h range because of increasing transportation tasks. The experimental assessment of driving safety, steering and handling performance and braking behaviour of such vehicles is the target of a research project carried out at the Department of Automotive Engineering of the Technical University Darmstadt. The response of test vehicles - i.e. agricultural tractors - to defined longitudinal, lateral and vertical excitation is measured. Influences like multiaxial input - i.e. braking maneuvers during steady state turning - or the effect of different tire pressure and payload combinations in front or rear are investigated. The test procedures are similar to those used for fast sprung wheel road vehicles to allow comparison of results.
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