Dynamic Model of an Agricultural Rubber Crawler Vehicle with Nonlinear Spring (Part 1)

Investigation of the Nonlinear Interaction Between a Track Roller and an Agricultural Rubber Crawler

Abstract

In this study, the static and dynamic interactions between a track roller and a rubber crawler were investigated. The dynamic spring constants and the viscous damping coefficients of the rubber crawler were measured by using the dynamic viscoelastic measuring system with a varying range of frequency and preload.
The results indicated that the dynamic interactive relationships between the dynamic spring force of the track roller and the displacement of the rubber crawler showed hardening nonlinearity near the middle portion between two lugs, while around the lugs (core bars) were linear with a tendency similar to static interaction. Furthermore, the higher the exciting frequency, the larger was the dynamic spring constant, while the viscous damping coefficient decreased.