Investigation of the components of the cornering resistance of a tracked vehicle on a solid support base

The purpose of the study is to increase the completeness and reliability of approaches to determining the components of the cornering resistance a tracked vehicle, as well as to create a method for their assessment, which will be suitable for practical calculations. The article analyzes two components of the moment of cornering resistance of the tracked vehicle, which can be distinguished if we consider the interaction of the caterpillar with the support base through separate contact spots (active sections of the tracks located under the road wheels). The first component arises from the linear movement of the active sections of the tracks. The second is caused by the rotational movement of the contact patch about the vertical axis. The paper presents a mathematical model of the interaction of the propeller and a dense support base, which makes it possible to study the dependence of the components of the moment of cornering resistance on the geometric parameters of the undercarriage of a tracked vehicle. The horizontal reaction force in this case is presented as a function of the slip coefficient. The possibility of realizing various adhesion qualities of the propulsion unit in the longitudinal and transverse directions of sliding is provided. The model assumes a preliminary division of the contact patch into a finite number of elementary areas. Since the number of elementary sites affects the result, the article conducted a study to determine the minimum number of sites to ensure acceptable accuracy. An analysis of the expressions available in the literature was carried out to determine the specified component of the cornering resistance. The new empirical relationships that better agree with the mathematical model were proposed. The study of several existing tracked vehicles, differing in the mass and size of the track support surface, made it possible to conclude that it is advisable to take into account the moment of cornering resistance of the contact patch for various types of tracked vehicles.

tracked vehicle, turn, cornering resistance, active track area