Development of a Variable-Diameter Cage Wheel for Walking Tractor and Its Performance Evaluation in Soil Bin (Simulating Wetland)

Abstract

Cage wheel is commonly used with walking tractors, but its diameter suitable for getting maximum tractive performance needs to be studied. Hence, an open-lug-type variable-diameter cage wheel to fit with a walking tractor was designed using SOLIDWORKS 2016 software. After verifying its dimensions by using finite element analysis, an actual wheel was fabricated with provision to vary its diameter from 620 to 710 mm using a manually operated hydraulic jack. Its performance in terms of tractive efficiency (TE) and net traction ratio (NTR) was evaluated in the soil bin under flooded condition at a normal load of 145 kg and forward speed of 1 km/h by varying the pull and diameter. The input torque and pull were measured with a torque transducer and a load cell, respectively. The NTR was found to increase with the increase in wheel slip until it reached a maximum value at around 45% slip. With the increase in diameter of wheel from 620 to 710 mm, both drawbar pull and TE were increased by 48–75% and 40–64%, respectively, at wheel slip of 20–40%. Both diameter and slip of wheel were found to have significant effect on NTE and TE.