A mathematical model for sideways overturning performance of tractor and trailer combinations

A mathematical model for sideways overturns of wheel-tractor and trailer combinations, by the conventional method of disassembly and assembly of system components supplemented with a method of energy symmetry, devised for the present purpose to take care of the singularity range of the roll angle, was developed with a corresponding digital computer program and verified with tests on a 1/4.5 scaled, self-powered remote-controlled test model with agreeable results.     

Combined lateral and longitudinal forces on driven angled tractor tyres

With the single wheel tester of Hohenheim University, tractive and side forces have been measured on driven tractor tyres of different sizes on a hard stubble field and on a tilled field with higher moisture content. It was found that the lateral forces are diminished as the tractive forces increase. The maximum lateral force was at little negative tractive force, corresponding with small negative wheelslip.     

The radial damping of agricultural tractor tyres

The damping coefficients of rolling agricultural tractor tyres in the radial (or vertical) direction have been measured. Six different tyres ranging in age from 1 to 16 years have been measured. Factors which most affect the apparent radial damping of the tyre are the inflation pressure, the tyre age, and the surface over which it rolls. The effects of rolling speed, load, torque, amplitude, frequency, ply rating and lug length are also discussed.     

Experimental techniques for lateral stability testing of beams

Experimental Techniques - This paper presents experimental setups used in lateral stability tests of beams. The load frame of the setup effectively eliminates the lateral-translational and...     

Dynamics of tractor lateral overturn on slopes under the influence of position disturbances (model development)

In order to investigate the effects of forward speed, ground slope and wheel–ground friction coefficient on lateral stability of tractor at the presence of position disturbances, a tractor dynamic model was developed. In this model two types of instability were considered: instability due to overturn and skid and for each case the stability index was determined. Different geometries and mass specifications of tractor MITSUBISHI-2501D were used to examine the model. According to the results of this model forward speed and ground slope had a reverse effect on all stability indexes. Moreover stability of this tractor was more affected by tractor skidding than overturning. Therefore to improve the overall stability of this tractor, preference should be on increasing the tractor stability index derived from skid dynamics of tractor.     

Effect of delay combinations on stability and Hopf bifurcation of an oscillator with acceleration-derivative feedback

This paper presents new observations of delayed AD (acceleration-derivative) controller in active vibration control and in bifurcation control of a Duffing oscillator. Based on the stability analysis of the linear delayed oscillator, it is found that combination of the two delays in acceleration feedback and velocity feedback has a significant influence on the stable region in the parameter plane of the gains. By calculating the real part of the rightmost characteristic roots of the controlled oscillator with fixed delays, it is shown that a delayed acceleration feedback with positive gain can work much better than the corresponding delayed negative acceleration feedback, which is used in classic control theory. For given feedback gains, by calculating the critical delay values, it is shown that a delayed positive acceleration feedback can result in a much larger stable delay interval than the corresponding delayed negative acceleration feedback does. As an application of these results to a delayed Duffing oscillator with acceleration-derivative feedback, a delayed positive acceleration feedback can be well used to postpone the occurrence of Hopf bifurcation in the delayed nonlinear oscillators.     

Control of the nonlinear dynamics of a truck and trailer combination

Nonlinear Dynamics - The directional instability problem of a truck and trailer combination in a forward motion has been investigated by developing a dynamic model of the planar rigid-body dynamics...     

Dynamic flight stability of a hovering model insect: lateral motion

The lateral dynamic flight stability of a hovering model insect （dronefly） was studied using the method of computational fluid dynamics to compute the stability derivatives and the techniques of eigenvalue and eigenvector analysis for solving the equations of motion. The main results are as following. （i） Three natural modes of motion were identified： one unstable slow divergence mode （mode 1）, one stable slow oscillatory mode （mode 2）, and one stable fast subsidence mode （mode 3）. Modes 1 and 2 mainly consist of a rotation about the horizontal longitudinal axis （x-axis） and a side translation; mode 3 mainly consists of a rotation about the x-axis and a rotation about the vertical axis. （ii） Approximate analytical expressions of the eigenvalues are derived, which give physical insight into the genesis of the natural modes of motion. （iii） For the unstable divergence mode, td, the time for initial disturbances to double, is about 9 times the wingbeat period （the longitudinal motion of the model insect was shown to be also unstable and td of the longitudinal unstable mode is about 14 times the wingbeat period）. Thus, although the flight is not dynamically stable, the instability does not grow very fast and the insect has enough time to control its wing motion to suppress the disturbances.     

矩阵摄动理论在六轴机车横向运动稳定性分析中的应用

本文提出了一种分析机车横向运动稳定性的方法,即利用复膜态的矩阵摄动法来计算临界速度,该方法避免了反复计算矩阵的特征值从而可节约大量的计算时间,对矩阵摄动法计算精度的研究结果表明,该方法的的精度是足够的。     

Three-DOF modelling of tractor seat-operator system

A 3-DOF analytical model for a tractor seat suspension system is presented in this paper. The response characteristics of the model have been determined using a computer simulation technique. It was observed that vibration transmissibility predicted by this model matched very well with the measured values. In contrast, the values predicted by 1-DOF or 2-DOF models did not match that well. The suspension system having spring constant between 10.726 and 18.957 kN/m and damping co-efficient between 0.665 and 1.099 kNs/m were found to be suitable for Indian tractor seats. Furthermore, the model could be employed as a tool in selection of optimal suspension parameters for any other type of vehicles.     

Turning behavior of articulated frame steering tractor — I. Motion of tractor without traction

The equation of motion is derived for the turning in a horizontal plane of a tractor with articulated frame steering when the tractor has no tractive force. Different from a standard tractor, the articulated tractor varies the position of its center of gravity according to the turning angle, so that the motion equation becomes very complex and difficult to solve. Side slip of the articulated tractor is obtained by the numerical analysis method, i.e. the Runge-Kutta-Gill method. Turning radii and ruts of tires are calculated for a running speed and a bending angle, and they are compared with experimental results.     

A solution for the lateral stability of beams using an electrical analog

This paper shows how an electrical-resistance analog based on the “conjugate-beam” concept and developed to simulate the elastic behavior of beams in the plane of loading may be used to examine the lateral buckling behavior of beams.     

Soil response to track and wheel tractor traffic

Experiments were conducted on a Eudora silt loam to determine the effect of tracked and wheeled tractor traffic on cone penetration resistance and soil bulk density at three different soil-water content levels. Treatment plots were ripped to a depth of 0.45 m and irrigated 5 days prior to the experiment. Significant differences in penetration resistance and bulk density were observed between the treatments within the plowing depth (0.30 m). After the tractor passes, the average penetration resistance recorded was about 7.5% higher and the soil bulk density was about 3% higher in the wheel treatment plots. However, at the soil-water content level close to Proctor optimum (15% w/w), no significant difference was observed in the average penetration resistance of the two treatments.     

Influence of concentrated lateral loads on the elastic stability of cylinders in bending

The character of the instability and the degradation of the moment-carrying capacity are found by Mylar model experiments for cylinders in bending when subjected to concentrated lateral loads. Lateral loads can seriously degrade the moment capability of cylinders. Critical combinations of moment and lateral load cause two distinct modes of failure—collapse and snapping. Collapse modes exhibit buckles which cover the compression half of the cylinder and are critical for large values of moment and small values of lateral load. Snapping modes of failure involve a single dimple and exist for smaller values of moment and larger values of lateral load.     

Dynamic load distribution and tractive performance of a model tractor

The effect of dynamic load distribution on the tractive efficiency, torque ratio, traction ratio and power distribution of a scaled model tractor was studied under two different soil conditions. The effects of the interactions of dynamic load distribution with slip and total dynamic load were investigated. A relationship between tractive coefficients and dynamic load distribution ratio was proposed.     

Dynamics modeling and robotic-assist,leader-follower control of tractor convoys

This paper proposes a generalized dynamics model and a leader-follower control architecture for skid-steered tracked vehicles towing polar sleds. The model couples existing formulations in the literature for the powertrain components with the vehicle-terrain interaction to capture the salient features of terrain trafficability and predict the vehicles response. This coupling is essential for making realistic predictions of the vehicles traversing capabilities due to the power-load relationship at the engine output. The objective of the model is to capture adequate fidelity of the powertrain and off-road vehicle dynamics while minimizing the computational cost for model based design of leader-follower control algorithms. The leader-follower control architecture presented proposes maintaining a flexible formation by using a look-ahead technique along with a way point following strategy. Results simulate one leader-follower tractor pair where the leader is forced to take an abrupt turn and experiences large oscillations of its drawbar arm indicating potential payload instability. However, the follower tractor maintains the flexible formation but keeps its payload stable. This highlights the robustness of the proposed approach where the follower vehicle can reject errors in human leader driving.     

Soil stress and compaction effects for four tractor tyres

Compaction effects and soil stresses were examined for four tractor tyres under three inflation pressures: 67, 100 and 150% of the recommended pressure. The four tyres were 18.4 R 38, 520/70 R 38, 600/65 R 38 and 650/60-38 and they carried a wheel load of 2590 kg. The 650/60-38 was a bias-ply tyre while the other three were radial tyres. Increased inflation pressure significantly increased all measured parameters: rut depth, penetration resistance and soil stress at 20 and 40 cm depth. The 18.4 R 38 caused a greater rut depth and penetration resistance than the other tyres, which did not differ significantly from each other. The soil stress was highest for the 18.4 R 38, followed by the 650/60-38. The low-profile tyres decreased compaction compared with the 18.4–38 tyre, mainly by allowing a lower inflation pressure. The use of low-profile tyres did not reduce compaction if not used at a lower inflation pressure. The bias-ply tyre caused a higher stress in the soil than the radial tyres when used with the same inflation pressure, but the compaction effects in terms of rut depth and penetration resistance were not greater for this tyre than for the radial low-profile tyres.     

残损航空器搬移拖车悬臂的拓扑优化

首先,采用导重准则法对在固定载荷下以位移为约束的拓扑优化问题进行计算,运用一种新的插值模型推导了在单工况作用下的最小质量拓扑优化迭代算法,并通过一个算例验证了该算法的可行性。然后,将该算法应用于残损航空器搬移拖车悬臂的拓扑优化设计中,将由此获得的悬臂的拓扑形貌与结构优化软件Optistruct得到的拓扑结果进行对比。结果表明,二者的迭代速度差别不大,且导重准则法的优化效果更好。作为概念设计,所得的拓扑形貌为以后悬臂结构的优化设计提供了有效参考。