Study of tyre-terrain interaction of a military vehicle

Wheeled military vehicles are often used on deformable terrains. In order to understand their performance, a tyre-terrain interaction model is required. The aim of this paper is to present the application of semi-empirical tyre models based on Wong-Reece models in order to investigate the drawbar pull, resistive torques, the sinkage and the stress distributions beneath each tyre of a six-wheeled military vehicle. An accurate prediction of terrain forces is of interest to engineers and vehicle designers to understand the vehicle performance. Furthermore, a heavy military vehicle can be immobilised due to particular terrain properties. In a combat situation, an immobilised vehicle can be dire. The military vehicle was simulated on compact sand and dry sand when the tyre behaves like a rigid wheel in driven and towed conditions.