Development of Bevameter for Measuring Mechanical Properties of Soil

Abstract

The driving performance of the vehicle is determined by the driving force of the driving device, and the driving force of the driving device is determined by two factors. One is the engine of the vehicle and the other is the strength of the road surface on which the vehicle is driven. In the case of a vehicle driving on a pavement, the driving force is determined by the engine because of the sufficient strength of the road surface on which the vehicle is driving. However, off-road vehicles (military vehicles, agricultural vehicles, construction equipment, planetary rovers, etc.) driving on unpaved roads are driven by the strength of the road surface, even if the engine performance is sufficient. Therefore, understanding the mechanical properties of the soil to which off-road vehicles drive and the mechanical interaction of the soil with the driving device is essential to the appropriate design of driving device for off-road vehicle. In this study, a tractor-attached bevameter was developed to design the driving device for vehicles that can drive on the oiled coast. The developed bevameter consists of a pressure-sinkage test device and a shear test device. The pressure-sinkage testdevice drives the hydraulic cylinder by hydraulic pressure supplied from the tractor, and measures the force and sinkage through the load cell and LVDT. Measured force and sinkage are used to analyze the mechanical properties of the soil th