Abstract
The mobility of tracked vehicles is mainly influenced by the interaction between tracks and soil, so that the characteristics of their interactions are quite important fur the tracked vehicle study. In particular, the track tension is closely related to the maneuverability of tracked vehicles and the durability of tracks and suspension systems. In order to minimize the excessive load on the tracks and to prevent the peal-off of tracks from the road-wheels, the Dynamic Track Tensioning System (DTTS) which maintains the optimum track tension throughout the maneuver is required. It consists of track tension monitoring system, track tension controller and hydraulic system. In this paper, a dynamic track tensioning system is developed for tracked vehicles which are subject to various maneuvering tasks. The track tension is estimated based on the idler assembly model. Using the monitored track tension and con sidering the highly nonlinear hydraulic units, fuzzy logic controllers are designed in order to control the track tension. The track tensioning performance of the proposed DTTS is verified through the simulation of the Multi -body Dynamics tool.
