Abstract
Tracked vehicles are propelled by the engagement of track pitches and a drive sprocket. This sprocket, referred to as a tumbler for the large tracked mining vehicles considered herein, may wear quickly under the action of the considerable contact forces that develop with the track. This paper summarizes a model of the track/tumbler seating process and the contact forces that control abrasive wear. A vehicle model is developed that employs a hybrid model for the track. This hybrid model combines a multibody model of the track within the seating region of the tumbler with a continuous model of the track elsewhere in the track circuit. The hybrid model is then employed to simulate the track/tumbler interactions and the associated nonlinear contact phenomena. This new modeling approach promotes accuracy within the track/tumbler contact region with few degrees of freedom outside this region where spatial resolution is less important.
