Energy efficiency of rubber tracked chassis

Nowadays, increasing number of machines and off-road vehicles are equipped with elastomeric, mainly rubber, tracked chassis. Rubber tracks and belts combine the most important advantages of both: pneumatic tires and conventional tracks made from metal links. In spite of significant benefits, rubber tracked chassis is a novel and uncommon design solution, as the application of rubber tracks and belts still brings up many severe problems. Consequently, an urgent need to overcome these problems exists. In The Division of Off-Road Machine and Vehicle Engineering (DORMVE) an intensive research, pertaining to rubber-tracked chassis has been conducted for many years. In the very beginnings, the investigation was carried on in cooperation with German companies INTERTRACTOR, IAMT and IBAF. As a result, numerous original and innovative design solutions, which became a subject of European, American and Japanese patents, were developed. However, some issues have not yet been resolved. Present research of DORMVE is aimed at identification of problems concerning energy efficiency of rubber-tracked chassis. The main objective of current investigation is to improve the energy efficiency. To do so a comprehensive optimisation process is to be carried out. Within the following article, a classification of aforementioned problems will be discussed. Research facilities in laboratory of DORMVE and exemplary results, which have already been obtained, will be also presented.