Investigation of the Tractor Performance When Ballasting Its Rear Half-Frame

Abstract

When designing and determining the potential technical capabilities and characteristics of the tractor, the so-called traction calculation is carried out. The aim of the work is to study regularities of changes in the traction and coupling characteristics of a tractor with an articulated frame depending on the size of the ballast, the presence of dual wheels and other parameters, using the KhTZ-242K tractor as an example. The numerical solution of the deduced mathematical model made it possible to obtain graphical dependences of the change in the main traction and coupling characteristics of the tractor KhTZ-242K depending on the mass of the tractor, which varied from 8600 kg to 10100 kg by changing the ballast mass. The maximum tractive power of the tractor on single wheels without a ballast is 121 kW, which is achieved at a speed of 12 km∙h–1, and on single wheels with a ballast 122 kW, at a speed of 15 km∙h–1. This, in its turn, greatly affects the productivity and fuel efficiency of the aggregate.