Improving Off-Road Vehicle Stability, Mobility, and Maneuverability through Advanced Terramechanics Studies and Stochastic Terrain Modeling

Principal Investigator
Corina Sandu (Virginia Tech)

University Researcher
Jonah Lee (U. of Alaska)

Industry
Dave Glemming (Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.)

Government
Alexander Reid (TARDEC)

Student
Richard Lee (Virginia Tech)

The U.S. Army needs reliable tools to simulate off-road vehicle dynamics. A better understanding of the vehicle stability when negotiating uneven terrain is critical in avoiding rollover situations, thus increasing crew survivability. Moreover, accurate and computational efficient terrain profile models are required to model such simulations. It is also important to properly characterize the tire-soft soil interaction, since its impact on the ability of the vehicle to maneuver in the field is of essence.

The long term goal of the work is to realistically and efficiently simulate the vehicle dynamics of military and commercial vehicles in off-road operating conditions. We seek to address critical issues related to terrain and soil modeling, tire modeling, tire-terrain interaction, and vehicle mobility. The analytical and computational research performed will be augmented by experimental work to validate the simulation results.

One fundamental difficulty in understanding the physics of the off-road traction and in predicting vehicle performance is the variability of the terrain profile and soil parameters. These operating conditions are uniquely defined at a given spatial location and a given time. We are extending prior performed research oriented toward re-creating terrain profiles and developing stochastic sandy loam models using a polynomial chaos approach. The tire-sand interaction can be analyzed at micro scale and at macro scale. So far, there is insufficient understanding of the correlation between the two approaches.

Figure 1. Tire-sand interaction

Figure 2: AVDL Terramechanics Rig

The outcomes of this research will be general tools and methodologies with direct impact on the modeling of terrain profile, soil characteristics, tire-soil interaction, off-road vehicle dynamics and mobility. Analytical, semi-analytical, and computational work will be performed and the results validated against laboratory and field experimental data.