Construction machines, also referred to as engineering vehicles or earth movers, are used in a variety of tasks related to infrastructure development and material handling. While modern construction machines represent a high level of sophistication in several areas, their suspension systems are generally rudimentary or even nonexistent. This leads to unacceptably high vibration levels for the operator, particularly when considering front loaders and dump trucks, which regularly traverse longer distances at reasonably high velocities. To meet future demands on operator comfort and high speed capacity, more refined wheel suspensions will have to be developed. The aim of this thesis is therefore to investigate which factors need to be considered in the fundamental design of suspension systems for wheeled construction machines. The ride dynamics of wheeled construction machines are affected by a number of particular properties specific to this type of vehicle. The pitch inertia is typically high in relation to the mass and wheelbase, which leads to pronounced pitching. The axle loads differ considerably between the loaded and the unloaded condition, necessitating ride height control, and hence the suspension properties may be altered as the vehicle is loaded. Furthermore, the low vertical stiffness of off-road tyres means that changes in the tyre properties will have a large impact on the dynamics of the suspended mass. The impact of these factors has been investigated using analytical models and parameters for a typical wheel loader. Multibody dynamic simulations have also been used to study the effects of suspended axles on the vehicle ride vibrations in more detail. The simulation model has also been compared to measurements performed on a prototype wheel loader with suspended axles. For reasons of manoeuvrability and robustness, many construction machines use articulated frame steering. The dynamic behaviour of articulated vehicles has therefore been examined here, focusing on lateral instabilities in the form of “snaking” and “folding”. A multibody dynamics model has been used to investigate how suspended axles influence the snaking stability of an articulated wheel loader. A remote-controlled, articulated test vehicle in model-scale has also been developed to enable safe and inexpensive practical experiments. The test vehicle is used to study the influence of several vehicle parameters on snaking stability, including suspension, drive configuration and mass distribution. Comparisons are also made with predictions using a simplified linear model. Off-road tyres represent a further complication of construction machine dynamics, since the tyres’ behaviour is typically highly nonlinear and difficult to evaluate in testing due to the size of the tyres. A rolling test rig for large tyres has here been evaluated, showing that the test rig is capable of producing useful data for validating tyre simulation models of varying complexity. The theoretical and experimental studies presented in this thesis contribute to the deeper understanding of a number of aspects of the dynamic behaviour of construction machines. This work therefore provides a basis for the continued development of wheel suspensions for such vehicles. / QC 20110531

L’ostéoporose ménopausique est généralement traitée par une stratégie médicamenteuse à visée anti-résorptive, couplée à des exercices de musculation/proprioception relativement efficaces pour maintenir la masse musculaire et prévenir le risque de chute. Ces dernières années, bien que de nombreuses études animales et cliniques aient suggéré un effet ostéogénique des vibrations corps entier (VCE), les résultats pas toujours concluants et les protocoles très hétérogènes rendent l’interprétation difficile. Dans ce travail, nous avons étudié l’importance de la fréquence de la vibration dans les effets osseux induits par les VCE, sur des rats adultes. Nous avons montré que la stimulation osseuse était dose dépendante de la fréquence, avec un effet ostéogénique d’autant plus important que la fréquence est élevée, et un effet délétère des basses fréquences. Le régime à haute fréquence (90Hz) améliore la micro-macroarchitecture de l’os cortical (épaississement cortical, diminution de la porosité) et de l’os trabéculaire (augmentation du volume osseux, nombre de travées), et stimule la formation osseuse (taux de formation osseuse augmenté), alors que le régime basse fréquence (8Hz) découple les activités de formation et minéralisation, responsable d’une diminution des DMO corticales et trabéculaires, caractéristiques d’une ostéomalacie. Dans cette étude, la réponse ostéogénique plus marquée aux vertèbres vs les os longs (Tibia et fémur) suggère un rôle de la moelle grasse dans la réponse osseuse aux VCE. L’étude clinique réalisée par la suite chez des femmes ménopausées, confirme la capacité des VCE à stimuler la formation osseuse corticale et trabéculaire (épaississement cortical, augmentation de l’aire corticale, maintien de la porosité, augmentation du volume osseux trabéculaire) avec un effet systémique des VCE (os porteurs et non porteurs). L’étude de la propagation du signal vibratoire chez l’animal et l’humain montre une amplification du signal dans les basses fréquences, caractéristique d’un effet de résonance, et une transmission plus importante des vibrations au-delà de 40Hz, expliquant en partie les effets des VCE en fonction de la fréquence. Nos résultats suggèrent l’utilisation des VCE comme moyen non pharmacologique de prévention voir traitement de la fragilité osseuse / The postmenopausal osteoporosis is generally handled by a medicinal strategy with anti-résorptive aim, coupled with relatively effective exercises of body-building / proprioception to maintain the muscular mass and prevent the risk of fall. These last years, although numerous animal and clinical studies suggested an osteogenic effect of the whole-body vibrations (WBV), the not always decisive results and the very heterogeneous protocols make difficult the interpretation. In this work, we studied the importance of the frequency of vibration in the bone effects induced by WBV on adult rats. We have shown that bone stimulation was dependent on the dose frequency, with a particularly important that the frequency is high osteogenic effect and a detrimental effect of low frequency. The high frequency system (90Hz) improves the control of the microarchitecture cortical bone (cortical thickening, reduced porosity) and trabecular bone (bone augmentation, number of spans), and stimulate bone formation (bone formation rate increased), while the low frequency regime (8Hz) decouples training and mineralization, causing a decrease in cortical and trabecular BMD, characteristic of osteomalacia. In this study, the more pronounced the vertebrae vs long bones (femur and tibia) osteogenic response suggests a role of the fat in the bone marrow response to WBV. The clinical study later postmenopausal women, confirms the ability of WBV to stimulate cortical and trabecular bone formation (cortical thickening, increased cortical area, maintaining porosity, trabecular bone volume increase) with a systemic effect of WBV (bearing and non-bearing bones). The study of the propagation of the vibration signal in animals and humans shows an amplification of the signal in the low frequency characteristic of a resonance effect, and a greater transmission of vibrations beyond 40Hz, explaining part of the effects according to the WBV frequency. Our results suggest the use of WBV as non-pharmacological means of prevention, or even treatment, of bone fragility