Influence of Flexible Bodies in Military Tracked Vehicle Dynamics

Abstract

Tracked vehicles are meant to be used in the harsh cross country environment. In particular, the military tracked vehicles are highly exposed to severe terrains and critical handling conditions. Yet while carrying out the dynamic studies, the tracked vehicles, in general, are modeled as rigid bodies. Hence in this article, an attempt has been made to understand closely the dynamics of a tracked vehicle with the inclusion of some parts of the tracked vehicle viz., hull side plates and road wheel arms, as flexible bodies in the dynamic analysis using the finite element method. Result of the flexible dynamic simulation is also compared with the tracked vehicle analysis with the same parts modeled as rigid bodies. In this investigation, dimensions of the standard staggered trapezoidal blocks terrain meant for testing the tracked vehicles is used to carry out the dynamic studies on the tracked vehicle. The dynamic simulation result of the flexible tracked vehicle model is also compared with the experimental test result of the actual tracked vehicle conducted in the actual trapezoidal blocks terrain.