Dynamic analysis and fatigue life estimations of track mechanisms of military tanks

Today, many researchers are carrying out investigations on the dynamic analysis of vehiclesin mathematical domain. However, compared to general vehicle models, there are not enoughresearch about dynamic analysis of tracked vehicles.The fatigue analysis to predict the fatigue life of machine elements that work under dynamicsituations, specially forms a different research topic. The most significant factor in fatigueanalysis is the cumulative damage of materials that are subjected to several cyclic stresses.In this study, four different dynamic models (one, two, eight and fifteen degrees of freedom)of tracked vehicle are presented. In addition, linear and nonlinear forms of these models areexaminated. The best one of these dynamic models is selected and the suspension force resultsobtained from this model are used to calculate the fatigue life of a selected element that worksin the suspension system of the vehicle. In other words, the way of using the data thatobtained from dynamic analysis in fatigue analysis is shown.The presented method for dynamic analysis is set up to be applicable to different types oftracked vehicles that may be produced in future. The same method can be used to find thefatigue life of selected parts of suspension system for different types of tracked vehicles.The focus of this work is to find the dynamic stresses of a machine element that is subjectedto vibrational loads under operation situations and to predict the fatigue life of this elementunder these stresses.Keywords: Tracked Vehicle, Tank, Fatigue, Service-Life, Cumulative damage