Fatigue Life Prediction of Track Link of a High-Speed Vehicle

The paper presents a methodology for calculating the fatigue life of tracks of a high-speed tracked vehicle. The methodology includes computer simulation of motion of the machine on the road, calculation of loads acting on the tracks of tracks, stresses in the most stressed areas of the tracks, and prediction of durability by the criterion of fatigue failure. In the simulation of motion, the dynamic properties of the projected machine and the typical operating conditions in different climatic conditions are taken into account. The characteristics of loading are determined by the results of full-scale field tests. The maximum stresses in the tracks occur under the action of random loads from the ground. Ground is regarded as a Winkler half-space with randomly distributed elastic elements. To calculate the stresses in the most loaded zones of the tracks, a technique based on the principle of independence of the action of forces and the use of the finite element method is proposed. In different loading cycles, the relationship between the components of the stress tensor in the most stressed zone is different. The loading of the track is multiparameter. Therefore, a special method was used to calculate the accumulated fatigue damage. The article presents the results of using the proposed methodology for predicting the fatigue life of tracks of tracked transport vehicles.