Abstract
The planar tracked vehicle model used in this investigation consists of two kinematically decoupled subsystems, i.e., the chassis subsystem and the track subsystem. The chassis subsystem includes the chassis frame, sprocket, idler and rollers, while the track subsystem is represented as a closed kinematic chain consisting of rigid links interconnected by revolute joints. In this study, the recursive kinematic and dynamic formulation of the tracked vehicle is used to find the vertical terce and the distance of an arbitrary track moved in the driving direction along the track. These distances and vertical forces obtained are used to get the deformation and sinkage of a terrain. The FEM(Finite Element Method) is adopted to analyze the interaction between tracked vehicle and terrain. The terrain is represented by a system of elements wish specified constitutive relationships and considered as a piecewise linear elastic, plastic and isotropic material. When the tracked vehicle is moving with different speeds on the terrain, the elastic and plastic deformations and the maximum sinkage for the four different types of isotropic soils are simulated.