Automatic Control System of the Eccentricity of Gravity for Optimum Turning Performance of a Tracked Vehicle on Soft Terrain

The objective of the research is to develop an automatic control system of eccentricity of center of gravity of a bulldozer to achieve optimum running performance on soft terrain. For this purpose, a simulation analysis, which can predict turning characteristics of tracked vehicles on soft terrain with high accuracy in a short time, was developed. A measured or desired traction force, desired turning radius etc. can be inputted to the simulation analysis at the site to compute a combination of eccentricity of center of gravity of vehicle and steering ratio at which optimum turning performance can be achieved. The optimum turning performance criteria can be the minimum effective input energy, or minimum amount of sinkage or maximum effective tractive energy etc. In this report, the fist step of the research, i.e. the development of the simulation analysis and its analytical results were reported. The results shows that eccentricity of center of gravity of vehicle has considerable effect on turning performance of tracked vehicle and its value can be set to achieve desired optimum criteria. Furthermore, it is concluded that a substantial reduction of effective input energy can be achieved merely with the adjustment of eccentricity of center of gravity of vehicle.