Research on the design and traction characteristics of a vehicle track shoe for sandy land

The track shoe is the key component of the tracked chassis in contact with the ground. In order to improve the passing capacity (traction force) of the tracked chassis in sand, we designed a track shoe for running on sand, inspired by the ostrich-foot. Focusing on the structural parameters of the track shoe, we developed a traction model of the track shoe behavior based on the theory of vehicle terra-mechanics. The finite element analysis of different forms of track shoes was carried out combined with orthogonal experiments, and verified by the soil bin test. The results show that the width of the track shoe and the height of the track grouser are positively correlated with the traction performance of the chassis, and each additional track shoe increases its traction by 30%. The No.1 sand-special track shoe (the design inspiration comes from the sand-gathering function of ostrich-foot.) can improve the traction of the tracked chassis by 41.7%. The tractive force model can well predict the tractive force of the tracked chassis in sand, and the track shoe designed in this paper is helpful to improve the tractive force of the tracked chassis in sandy land.