Abstract
Trailer Sway is a phenomenon observed when a towing vehicle reaches a certain speed, due to the different forces acting on the trailer and resulting in a side to side motion of the trailer. There is a very high possibility to lose control of the trailer, making this a very dangerous situation. The problem is to prevent such an issue by figuring out the exact causes behind it and ways to prevent it. In 2012, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Sac State collaborated with Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) to develop a self-sustainable tiny house, which was going to take part in multiple competitions. The dimensions of the house allow it to be trailed by a small duty chassis, such as a Ford F250. During multiple trips, the house was subject to the sway phenomenon as the towing vehicle was reaching speeds over 45 miles per hour. This makes it the perfect candidate for our analysis, with the goal to understand the reasons behind the phenomenon and improve the design. The first part of this thesis is demonstrating how factors such as center of gravity location of the trailer can increase or mitigate the impact of sway. Moreover, we will focus on determining stress points with the trailer assembly to understand the phenomenon observed. A 3D model of the hitch was designed in SolidWorks, and an FEA analysis was used to determine stress points. This helped us determine where to locate strain gauges for data collection during our experiment. Hand calculations were also utilized in that regard. Finally, the data was analyzed to determine factors behind sway phenomenon. The next step would be to observe the trailer behavior while on the road at speeds of 45 mph or over. Finally, we will discuss opportunities to improve the hitch system design in that regard. The analysis of data collected will help us provide immediate solutions and theoretical basis for future design.