Locomotion of vehicles on hinged road mats

In this paper, the hinged road-mat construction is modeled as a cable structure, and based on the equivalent cable theory the sinkage of the roadway is evaluated. Neglecting details of the interaction between tires and road mats, works caused by the traction, resistance, and drawbar pulling are defined to build a new work criterion to evaluate the mobility of vehicles on the hinged road mats. Mobility diagrams, related to coefficient of adhesion, terrain deformation, beam width, and fastening force, are developed to evaluate the locomotion of vehicles and further guide the design of hinged road mats. The presented method compares well with the field terramechanical experiments of the hinged road mats, thus verifying the validity of equivalent cable modeling and work criterion for hinged road mats.