Bus mathematical model of acceleration threshold limit estimation in lateral rollover test

Vehicle safety is a major concerns for researchers, governments and vehicle manufacturers, and therefore special attention is paid to it. Particularly, rollover is one of the types of accidents where researchers have focused due to the gravity of injuries and the social impact it generates. One of the parameters that define bus lateral behaviour is the acceleration threshold limit, which is defined as the lateral acceleration from which the rollover process begins to take place. This parameter can be obtained by means of a lateral rollover platform test or estimated by means of mathematical models. In this paper, the differences between these methods are deeply analysed, and a new mathematical model is proposed to estimate the acceleration threshold limit in the lateral rollover test. The proposed model simulates the lateral rollover test, and, for the first time, it includes the effect of a variable position of the centre of gravity. Finally, the maximum speed at which the bus can travel in a bend without rolling over is computed.