Abstract
In the previous paper, a mathematical model for studying the steerability of tracked vehicles on inclined ground was developed, and its validity was experimentally verified. However, in the previous discussion of the pressure distribution of track shoe, the pressure acting upon these elements were assumed as the uniform along the track width.
The objective of this paper is to establish interaction relations for tracked vehicles with wide track shoes. In order to validate the pressure distribution of wide track shoes under road wheel, a rectangular loading plate was loaded vertically. The resulting code was employed to simulate the turning motion of a scale vehicle on an inclined ground, and good correlations were observed with the experimental data. Further, the numerical analysis by using specifications of a real vehicle was conducted to investigate the vehicle response on the up-slope and the down-slope and the effect of the terrain characteristics on steering performance.
