Interference contact between final drive and walking system for tracked vehicle

The damage failure problem of the final drive of tracked vehicle was investigated. It was found that the interference contact between the final drive and the walking system is the key to solve the problem. First, the interference contact parts are taken as rigid bodies, and the mechanical model and mathematic model of the interference contact are established using the deformation compatibility relationship. Second, the finite element simulation method is employed to verify the proposed model using parameter of the practical vehicle. The finite element analysis results are in good agreement with that of proposed model, proving the effectiveness of the proposed method. Finally, it is found that the main reason of the final drive damage is the insufficient strength of the wheel hub of the large gear ring, whose factor of safety is only 2.6. This leads the failure of the wheel hub of the large gear ring under bad working condition, resulting in the failure damage of the final drive. This study provides theoretical basis for the optimization of the final drive of tracked vehicle.