Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to investigate experimentally the steering torque characteristics of a tractor operated in various ground conditions. The experiments were conducted with the tractor reconstructed for steering torque test of the tractor at two different off-road conditions (ground-I and ground-II) and a on-road condition (ground-III), three different levels of tire inflation pressures (69 kPa, 138 kPa and 207 kPa), and four different levels of axle loads (4120 N, 4730 N, 5340 N and 5950 N). The results of this study are summarized as follows: 1) The steering torque was increased with the increase in steering angle for all experimental levels of ground conditions, axle loads and inflation pressures of tire. 2) As the axle load increased, the steering torque of the tractor increased for all ground conditions, and the increasing rate of the steering torque with the increase of axle load was greater at on-road than at off-road. 3) As the tire inflation pressure decreased, the steering torque increased. Also the increasing tendency of the steering torque with decreasing the tire inflation pressure showed that the harder the ground was, the larger the effect was. But for the soft ground condition, ground-I, no specific trend with inflation pressures was found. 4) Steering angle-steering torque relationship with ground conditions showed that the increasing rate of the steering torque was greater at on-road than off-road for small steering angle under 10 degree, and was greater at off-road than on-road for large steering angles over 10 degree.
