Contact forces in the non‐linear dynamic analysis of tracked vehicles

Abstract

AbstractIt is known that when two springs are connected in series, the stiffness coefficient of an equivalent system that consists of one spring is less than the stiffness coefficients of the original springs. Experimental observations indicate that this fact can be very useful in determining the overall vibration characteristics of tracked vehicles. This simple fact is used in this investigation to develop a computer aided analysis procedure for the dynamic simulation of large‐scale tracked vehicles. The track is considered as a closed kinematic chain that consists of rigid bodies connected by revolute joints. The contacts between the track links and the rollers, the sprocket, and the idler are represented by non‐linear continuous force models. The stiffness and damping coefficients in these contact force models are determined by studying the viberation characteristics of the tracked vehicle. The tooth of the sprocket is defined using three surfaces. These are the left, the bottom, and the fight surfaces. Three successive transformations are used to define the contact kinematic relationships between the sprocket teeth and the pins of the track links. The equations of motions of the vehicle are formulated using the Lagrangian approach. Non‐linear constraint equations that describe mechanical joints and specified motion trajectories in the system are adjoined to the differential equations of motion using the technique of Lagrange multipliers. The resulting mixed system of differential and algebraic equations is solved numerically using a direct numerical integration method. A Newton–Raphson algorithm is used to check on the violations in the kinematic constraints. The results presented in this paper are obtained using a 54 body planer tracked vehicle in which the track consists of 42 rigid links connected by revolute joints.