The purpose of this paper is to investigate the steerability and stability of the tracked vehicles. In this study we intend to take into account all possible factors concerning steering problems such as the position of the center of gravity, load distribution on road wheels, frictional characteristics of track-ground interface, width of track shoes and vehicle configurations. The mathematical models for stationary turning motion of the vehicles have been developed in order to analyze and predict steering dynamics and steerability in plane motion. These equations have been numerically solved by a digital computer. The reliability of the theoretical analysis has been confirmed experimentally on real vehicles and scale models. The experimental values agreed well with the theoretical results and we obtained some interesting conclusions about turning radius-steering ratio, track tractive efforts-steering ratio relationships, steering characteristics at high speeds and relevant behaviors.
展开▼
