EFFECT OF SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT ON TRACTIVE PERFORMANCE OF SINGLE GROUSER SHOE IN TRACKED VEHICLE

摘要

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between the performance of tracked vehicle and soil moisture content. In this study, clay soil with ten kinds of moisture content were used and the parameters of test soil were measured for predicting thrust, running resistance and traction generated by a single grouser shoe. To predict the thrust, running resistance and traction, 3-D shearing model was used. Further, an experimental device for measuring test soil parameters was constructed and an experiment was conducted. The experimental results showed that the soil parameters changed with the variation of the moisture content even though the soil had the same constituents with the exception of water. According to the predicted results of tractive performance, traction shows a better performance when the soil moisture content was at a low level. It means that tracked vehicle performs effectively when it is operated under the soil condition of a relative low moisture content level.