Investigation of the soil thrust interference effect for tracked unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) using model track tests

•Soil thrust acts as a traction force for unmanned ground vehicles.•Significant loss of soil thrust due to the interference effect occurs.•Interference effect is obvious at a higher soil density and lower shape ratio.•Interference effect reduced soil thrust due to the overlapping shear zones.•A soil...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of terramechanics 2020-10, Vol.91, p.117-127
Main Authors: Shin, Gyu-Beom, Baek, Sung-Ha, Park, Ka-Hyun, Chung, Choong-Ki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Interference effect
Model track tests
Off-road vehicle
Soil thrust multiplier
Track system
Unmanned ground vehicle
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:•Soil thrust acts as a traction force for unmanned ground vehicles.•Significant loss of soil thrust due to the interference effect occurs.•Interference effect is obvious at a higher soil density and lower shape ratio.•Interference effect reduced soil thrust due to the overlapping shear zones.•A soil thrust multiplier, an empirical reduction factor, is developed. The traction force of a tracked unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) depends on the soil thrust generated by the shearing action on the soil-track interface. In the development of soil thrust, because the continuous-track system consists of a number of single-track systems connected to each other, interference occurs between the adjacent single-track systems through the surrounding soil. Thus, the total soil thrust of the continuous-track system is not equal to the sum of the soil thrust of each single-track system, and the interference effect needs to be carefully considered. In this study, model track tests were conducted on model single-, double-, and triple-track systems according to relative density of soil and shape ratio (i.e., the length of the track plate to grouser depth). The test results indicated that the interference effect reduced soil thrust due to the overlapping shear zones between adjoining single-track systems. The loss of soil thrust increased as the relative density of the soil increased and the shape ratio decreased. Based on these findings, a soil thrust multiplier that can be utilized to assess the soil thrust of a continuous-track system was developed.
ISSN:0022-4898
1879-1204
DOI:10.1016/j.jterra.2020.06.005