Failure analysis of the rubber track of a tracked transporter

Abstract

Rubber-tracked transporters are becoming increasingly popular in agriculture, forestry and military transportation. Rubber track systems are typically fitted instead of using tyres on the transporter to decrease soil stress and increase trafficability. Therefore, the accurate failure analysis of a rubber track is important. A model for predicting stress distribution along a rubber track is presented in this study. In the model, the stress along a rubber track consists of the vertical stress below the rubber track, tensile stress, bending stress and centrifugal tensile stress. Moreover, fourth strength theory was used to change a complicated stress state to a simple stress state. An experiment was performed at the test site of Harbin First Machinery Building Group Ltd, with a total weight of 61.789 kN. The experiment was conducted to verify and approve the theoretical model. The Miner rule was used to predict the cycle index and working hour of the rubber track, thereby providing a method for predicting the fatigue life of a rubber track.

Assessment of the Impact of Wear and Tear of Rubber Elements in Tracked Mechanism on the Dynamic Loads of High-Speed Tracked Vehicles

“…As result of experimental and model investigations, solutions to reduce losses in running gear are proposed. The interaction of the elements of the crawler track mechanism with the ground using simplified substitute models has been presented in the papers [18,19]. The calculation results have been validated with data from the literature and with the results obtained from detailed calculations of the models.…”

Optimal study of the Initial Track Tension for the track vehicle under soft ground based on multiple operating conditions

“…The literature 20 established a coupled mechanics model including the ITT with the aim of resulting the stresses produced by the action of track and sprocket, roadwheels, idle wheel, soil respectively. Then, the fatigue life of track on hard ground was simulated based on Miner’s rule.…”

“…Based on the above research, the stress state of any element for track contacted with soil was biaxial stress state, and others were simple stress state as in Figure 6. From literature, 20 it is clear that the ground pressure p ( x i ) and shear stress τ ( x i ) are orders of magnitude lower compared to the bending stress σ bi , tensile stress σ pi . Since that, p ( x i ), τ ( x i ) and the frictional resistance per unit area could be neglected.…”

“…The bending stress s bi , tensile stress s pi and centrifugal tensile stress were able to calculate based on the literature. 20 Additionally, the frictional resistance per unit area for the any element i of track on soft ground was shown in equation (8).…”

“…However, the ITT is also vital to the fatigue life of track. 20 The determination of the ITT is usually based on experience, that is, 10% vehicle weight. But, that doesn't consider the moving performance of tracked vehicle comprehensively, especially under soft ground.…”