Analysis of the Soil Deformation beneath a Wheel by the Finite Element Method (I)

Soil Deformation beneath a Rigid Wheel taking account of the Friction between a Wheel and Soils

Abstract

In order to investigate the trafficability and the tractive performance of a wheel-type tractor, a deformation of soils beneath a wheel was analyzed by the finite element method, taking account of the friction between a wheel and soil masses. In this analysis, a wheel and soils were assumed to be a rigid and elastic bodies, respectively. Besides, displacments of soil surface caused by a sinkage and a slip of a wheel were input as a boundary condition in the calculation, letting a wheel be sunk and rolled gradually in soils.
From that analysis, distributions of stress and strain in soils were clarified. Further, relationships between a slippage and a coefficient of net traction or a tractive efficiency were obtained, from which it was indicated that the tractive efficiency becomes maximum before a relative slip occurs over the entire contact surface of a wheel and soil masses.
Analysis of soil deformation beneath an elastic wheel will be reported in the next paper.