Barakhtanov

The article systematizes information about characteristics of snow cover significantly influencing cross-country ability, movability, mobility, energy efficiency and other properties of the vehicles. The authors provide equations of the most important communication parameters of snow cover condition, such as density, hardness, rigidity, cohesion, coefficient of internal friction, moisture, temperature, relative deformation, shear which are obtained from experimental data. Basing on the analysis of these dependencies the authors specify existing models of snow which are used to describe interaction of an engine with its support base.

Considered depending on the strain of snow on the normal load, shear resistance of the snow and its frictional properties, as the most important parameters of the snow path, determining the resistance to movement, traction properties and off-road capabilities of the tracked vehicle. Examined quantitative relationships and the nature of the processes of the vertical deformation snow by the flat die. There are given the dependence for determining the immersion of a cylindrical punch in snow. There are proposed four types of snow to assess off-road capabilities of the tracked vehicle. There are introduced the concept of a distributed on the sliding surface of the specific force of friction and the dependences of the specific force of friction on the pressure for low and very low temperatures of various materials. There are given numerical values of the specific friction force  for carbon and alloy steels, duralumin, teflon

It is shown that the search for ways to improve off-road capabilities of tracked vehicles in the snow must be based on comprehensive analysis of the influence of design parameters of the caterpillar drive as a quantitative resistance force, diving machines, traction control, and on the nature of the interaction of a caterpillar drive with snow cover. Computational and theoretical research, experimental-design work has shown that off-road capabilities of tracked vehicles in snow can be enhanced by quantitative changes in the geometric parameters of the chassis (track width, base, ground clearance) and a qualitative change in the nature of the interaction of caterpillar drive with snow cover (lining of the pressure diagrams and increasing the active length of the support surface caterpillar drive). There are shown the dependence of the resistance movement, traction and traction supply of track width, clearance and pressure drive in the snow.

Consider the forces of internal and external resistance to the movement of tracked vehicles in the snow. There are shown the dependence of the resistance to movement due to vertical deformation of the snow tracks, including a resistance force due to the deformation of the snow under the track roller with the highest peak pressure, the drag force due to the additional deformation of the snow, extruded into internal space between track rollers. The expressions for the case bottom pressure heads in the snow, the value of the bottom case immersion in the snow, the resistance forces due to interaction with snow cover the case bottom. It is shown that this resistance is composed mainly of expenses for the vertical deformation of the snow and friction the surfaces on the snow. There are given a graph of components of the resistance movement depends of the snow height.