Track System Dynamic Analysis by the Riccati Multibody System Transfer Matrix Method

The track systems are an important part of the tracked vehicle dynamics modeling. The Riccati Multibody System Transfer Matrix Method (RMSTMM) is adopted to model the dynamics of the tracked systems. During the process, the state variables at the connected ends of the elements within the track systems are transferred through low-order matrices that are independent of the system degrees of freedom, and there are no global dynamics equations with a system inertia matrix. Therefore, using the RMSTMM to analyze the track system has the advantage of facilitating access to the physical quantities associated with the state variables of the components. In conjunction with modeling process, the dynamic characteristics of the track system under different simulation conditions are analyzed, including the applied force of a track shoe running for one revolution and the dynamic tension distribution of the track system. Numerical investigations have shown that based on the RMSTMM, the analysis method of the track system can analyze the dynamic characteristics of tracks at a detailed level, while the method has strong designability and practical.