A study on an underwater tracked vehicle with a ladder trencher

摘要

Understanding the trencher interaction through analyses on the design and mechanics is essential for autonomous and operations of underwater tracked vehicles (UTVs) with a ladder trencher (LT). The objective of this paper is to analyze the mechanics of the UTV system that are affected by LT force and moment. For this, the force and moment on the cutter bar based on the analysis of the mechanics of the individual cutting tool are determined. Also, the mathematical expression is derived for the force and moment of the combined system of the UTV and LT for trencher tool cutting of the soil. For this, the parameters that affect the mechanics of the combined system are studied. For applying the trencher system to underwater soil cutting, the hydrostatic effect of buoyancy force is also studied.