A Physics-Based, Deformable Soil Model for Estimating a Military Vehicle's Power Energy Requirements

Abstract : A physics-based, deformable soil model was developed for use in the U.S. Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development Engineering Center's (TARDEC) real-time vehicle-motion simulator. The power dissipated from the tires of the U.S. Army's 8-wheeled Stryker vehicle are predicted while the vehicle traverses a Unified Soils Classification System (USCS) CL soil type. The results from the following components of the model are presented: the vertical soil deformation of a single soil element due to the surface loads generated from a Stryker vehicle's tires, the power dissipated by the vehicle while turning due to the lateral bulldozing of the soil, and the power required for a single Stryker tire to longitudinally bulldoze the soil. The predicted bulk density increase of the soil element decreased as the travel speed and the number of passes of the Stryker tires increased. The lateral displacement from the Stryker vehicle's eight tires and the associated power requirement increased as the travel speed increased and the vehicle turning radius decreased. The results from the longitudinal bulldozing model indicated that the power required to overcome the longitudinal bulldozing from a Stryker tire increased as the tire sinkage (rut depth), vehicle travel speed, and the soil's angle of internal friction increased.