Theory of Ground Vehicles, 5th Edition

Preface to the Fifth Edition

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a central issue for curbing climate change which is of great concern to the global community. As a significant portion of the emissions is associated with transportation, the use of the electric drive, hybrid electric drive, and fuel cells for ground vehicles, to facilitate replacing the internal combustion engine powered by fossil fuels, has received intense worldwide attention. To enhance safety, traffic flow, and operational efficiency of road transport, automated driving systems and cooperative driving automation have been under active development. With the growing interest shown by an increasing number of countries in the exploration of extraterrestrial bodies, such as the moon, Mars, and beyond, research on the mobility of rovers for extraterrestrial surface exploration has attracted considerable interest. Studies of the application of terramechanics to modeling and evaluating rover mobility have been intensified. The discussions of these and other topics of current and future interest in ground vehicle technologies are included in this edition.

While in this edition new topics are introduced and discussions of certain topics covered in previous editions are expanded, emphasis continues being placed on elucidating the physical nature and the mechanics of ground vehicle–environment interactions as in previous editions. Notable features of this edition are highlighted below.

In Chapter 1, definitions of tire ...