The measurement of forces on a cage wheel lug when operating in wet clay soil

Abstract

The forces acting on a single model cage wheel lug were measured when operating in a wet clay soil. After initial lug entry into the soil, the normal and tangential forces acting on the lug increased up to a certain peak value and then dropped as lug rotation increased further. The tangential force later attained a negative peak value. The pull force showed the same trend as lug normal force. The lift force showed the same trend as tangential force, however, the positive peak value of lift force was much higher than the positive peak value of tangential component. The lift force was higher than the pull force. Increase in lug sinkage showed almost proportionate increase in lug forces while increase in soil moisture showed decrease in lug forces. The effect of lug slip on lug forces at constant sinkage was found to be statistically non-significant.