Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food xxx (2016) 1e9

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Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food

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Research paper

Traction and braking force on three surfaces of agricultural tire lug

Mingliang Shao a, Tadashi Kishimoto b, *, Tadatoshi Satow b, Junichi Takeda c,
Thomas R. Way d
a
The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Iwate University, 3-18-8 Ueda, Morioka, Iwate 020-8550, Japan
b
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
c
Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, 3-18-8 Ueda, Morioka, Iwate 020-8550, Japan
d
USDA-ARS, National Soil Dynamics Laboratory, Auburn, AL 36832, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The objective of this research was to improve the performance of an agricultural tire by designing the
Received 6 October 2015 shape of the tire lug. For the first stage of this research, pressure sensors were mounted in the leading lug
Received in revised form side and the trailing lug side and tri-axial force transducers were mounted in the lug face of a small
12 April 2016
agricultural drive tire to find out the function of each lug surface. Traction forces were measured on the
Accepted 10 July 2016
Available online xxx
lug face and the leading side at 20.0% slippage and on the lug face at 10% slippage, as would be typical
when a tractor is used for plowing. Braking forces were measured on the lug face and the trailing side
at
10.0% slippage, as would be typical when a tractor is used for rotary tilling. The results of three tire
Keywords:
Interface pressure
inflation pressure conditions (39.2 kPa, 78.5 kPa and 118 kPa) also show the similar tendency to produce
Lug face traction and braking forces on three surfaces of an agriculture tire lug. Relationships between forces on
Lug side the lug surfaces and the soil reaction were determined.
Wheel © 2016 Asian Agricultural and Biological Engineering Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights
Tri-axial transducer reserved.
Slippage
Soil bin

1. Introduction analysis of a wheel was studied by introducing the lift resistance of

Traction and braking forces are important performance char-
acteristics of agricultural wheels, and are required for various types
of farm working conditions. Net traction, which is longitudinal
force developed by a wheel, and braking force should be considered
when the performance of a wheel is evaluated. Further, an impor-
tant element in designing the shape of a tire lug is an under-
standing of how reaction forces on the surfaces of a lug affect wheel
performance.
Many studies have been conducted using rigid wheels. Gee-
Clough and Chancellor (1976) analyzed the amount of wheel
movement in the vertical and longitudinal directions, caused by
wheel rotation. They considered the motion of a point on the wheel
and analyzed the shear component which was parallel to the wheel
surface and the compression component which was perpendicular
to the wheel surface (Sakai et al., 1988). The motion of the wheel
and the reaction were analyzed by the application of passive soil
pressure theory (Wang et al., 1989a, 1989b, 1990). A kinematic
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: tksmt@obihiro.ac.jp (T. Kishimoto).
the wheel with travel reduction (Kishimoto et al., 1991b), and re-
sults of this study demonstrated that the reactions on surfaces (lug
face, leading lug side, trailing lug side) of a lug were different from
one another (Jun et al., 1997; Kishimoto et al., 1990a). To understand
the effect of the lug, instead of analyzing only one side of the lug, to
the authors suggest it is necessary to comprehensively analyze the
three surfaces and the undertread face. Kishimoto et al. developed
small-sized transducers of the three-surfaced lug type which can
measure normal and tangential forces of each surface simulta-
neously (Kishimoto et al., 1991a). The normal force distribution was
analyzed at the contact surface on a smooth rigid wheel (Hiroma
et al., 1989). Yosida measured contact pressure, sinkage and soil
dry bulk density by the number of passages with three types of
wheel (Yoshida, 1972). The force equilibrium acting on a driven
wheel with rubber attached to the periphery of the tread was
analyzed theoretically and experimentally by means of photo-
elasticity (ISTVS Standards, 1977).
Many studies have been conducted investigating the pneumatic
tractor tire. Trabbic et al. installed five pressure transducers on each
surface of a lug to measure soil-tire interface pressures with
different drawbar loads and tire inflation pressures (Trabbic et al.,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eaef.2016.07.002
1881-8366/© 2016 Asian Agricultural and Biological Engineering Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Shao, M., et al., Traction and braking force on three surfaces of agricultural tire lug, Engineering in Agriculture,
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2 M. Shao et al. / Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food xxx (2016) 1e9
1959). Taylor reported the lug angle and lug spacing effect on
traction of tire for various tire inflation pressures (Taylor, 1976,
1973, 1974). He also compared the traction performance of tractor
tires having various tread shapes (Tanaka, 1960). Ali and McKyes
examined for traction characteristics of a lug using various lug
angles (Ali and McKyes, 1978). Burt et al. measured three-
dimensional deformation of the lug and undertread surfaces rela-
tive to the rim, for a tractor drive tire. They also determined the
ratio of normal and tangential forces at the soil-tire interface (Burt
et al., 1987a, 1987b; Burt and Wood, 1987). Jun et al. developed a
three-dimensional stress transducer to measure normal, tangential
and lateral stresses on a lug face. They reported the relationships
between peak stresses and their rotational angles at 20% slippage
(Ito, 1974; Jun et al., 1998).
However, when the tractor works with a rotary tiller of down
cut operation, meaning the tiller rotates clockwise when viewed
from the right side of the tiller, the net longitudinal force applied by
the soil to the rotary tiller is the same to the travel direction. This
force was named “tillage thrust force” (Sakai and Stout, 1999) and it
tends to push the tractor forward (Sakai and Zou, 1987). It causes
negative slippage of drive wheels on dry and compacted soil. To
counteract this force, a braking force is generated by the tractor
tires and is applied at the contact surface between the soil and tires.
The tractor wheels during rotary tillage act not as driving wheels
but as braking wheels in order to maintain a constant travel speed
of the machine (Sakai, 1999). Little research has been conducted on
the braking performance of agricultural wheels. In particular, very
little research has been conducted about the reaction on each
surface of a lug at negative slippage. In this study, pressure sensors
were mounted in the leading lug side and the trailing lug side and
tri-axial force transducers were mounted in the lug face of a small
agricultural tire which has been commonly used in Asia. The re-
action forces and pressures were measured and the effect of re-
actions of soil on each surface of a lug are analyzed at positive and
negative slippage.
2. Apparatus and procedure
2.1. Apparatus
Fig. 1 shows the single tire tester and soil bin used in the project.
The single tire tester is mounted to a carriage which runs on rails
along the soil bin (length 11,000 mm, width 850 mm, depth
450 mm). The single tire tester is equipped with a Continuously
Variable Transmission motor. A pulling wire controls the motion of
the carriage and single tire tester along the length of the soil bin.
The desired speed of the carriage is obtained using an arrangement
of mechanical transmissions.
The single tire tester frame is connected to the carriage by a slide
bearing which allows the frame to move vertically relative to the
carriage. The test tire is driven by a variable speed motor. In this
experiment, the rotational speed of the tire is set at a constant
value. Slippage is adjusted by selecting the carriage speed by
changing the gear ratio of the transmission as shown in Fig. 1-a. The
tire slippage S is calculated as Equation (1):
 v
S¼ 1
 100%
ru
where v is forward velocity, u is wheel angular velocity, and r is the
tire rolling radius. Angle velocity u is set at 0.15 rad/s, tire rolling
radius r is 312 mm, the travel speed of a tire at no load is set to
0.3 m/s.
The tire was a Falken AR1 6.00e12 6 PR 160/85R14 radial-ply
tire. The overall diameter and the section width of the tested tire
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were 624 mm and 161 mm respectively. The lug height was 23 mm.
The number of lugs was 26 and the lug angle (ISTVS Standards,
1977) was 65 . The rim of the test tire is mounted to the frame by
an axis transducer for measuring the net traction and the dynamic
load which is the vertical force applied by the tire to the soil. The
principle of an axis transducer was designed and developed as an
orthogonally holed cantilever type (Kishimoto et al., 1990b).
A tire rotational angle is detected by a photo-interrupter. The
sampling frequency of A/D conversion for analogue data of the
photo-interrupter to the slit was set at 50 Hz, or about 330 data
points recorded per wheel revolution. The tire rotational angle of
0 is defined at the position where the TC sensor, which is described
below, is located directly above the tire axis of rotation.
2.2. Pressure sensor and tri-axial force transducer
A pressure sensor (KYOWA; PS-10KC-F (Kyowa Electronic In-
struments Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan)) (Fig. 2) was used in the experi-
ment for the measurement of pressures acting on the leading and
trailing sides of a lug. The pressure sensor can measure both posi-
tive and negative pressures and the capacity of the pressure sensor
is 1 MPa. The radius is 3.0 mm and the thickness is 0.6 mm.
A tri-axial force transducer (TEC GIHAN; USL06-H5-200NeC
(Tec Gihan Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan)) (Fig. 3) was used in the experi-
ment for measurement of normal and tangential forces on a lug
face. The maximum force that the tri-axial force transducer can
measure is 200 N in the normal direction (þZ) and ±250 N in the
longitudinal tangential direction (þY) and the lateral direction
(þX). The detection part is the center of the tri-axial force trans-
ducer, on which a screw (radius 3.0 mm, thickness 0.5 mm) is
mounted and painted with liquid rubber. A rubber sheet is attached
on the transducer, around the detection part. A 7.0 mm diameter
hole was cut in the central part of the rubber sheet to allow the
detection part to directly contact the soil. The transducers were
embedded in the lug so the surface of each transducer was flush
with the lug face surface.
2.2.1. Locations of pressure sensors and tri-axial force transducers
Fig. 4-a shows the location of the sensors and transducers on the
test tire. Four pressure sensors and two tri-axial force transducers
were used in the experiment. Two of the pressure sensors were
mounted in the trailing side of a lug, so we called them TC
(centerline of a trailing side) and TE (outer edge of a trailing side).
Similarly, two of the pressure sensors were mounted in the leading
side of another lug, so we called them LC (centerline of a leading
side) and LE (outer edge of a leading side). The taper of LC location
is about 0 . The taper of the trailing side is about 14 . It is easy to cut
the surface of the leading side at LC for embedding the pressure
sensor to be in a plane which contained the tire axis of rotation.
However, the locations where LE, TC and TE sensors are attached
are difficult to cut to attain a vertical orientation in the direction of
travel because of the narrow space. Then, the surface of LC was in a
plane which contained the tire axis of rotation, and the other
pressure sensors were flush with the lug surfaces in which they
were embedded. Soil-tire interface pressure in the direction
tangential to the tread periphery was measured at location LC.
Interface pressures in directions normal to the local lug surfaces
(1) were measured at locations LE, TC and TE. Two tri-axial force
transducers were mounted in the lug face. One was called FC
(centerline of lug face), the other was called FE (outer edge of lug
face).
2.2.2. Correction equations of calculation of tangential, normal and
lateral forces by a tri-axial force transducer
The þ Fy direction of FC in Fig. 4-a is the forward direction
 M. Shao et al. / Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food xxx (2016) 1e9 3

Sliding Bearing Frame

Carriage CVT motor

Wire

Axis transducer

Test tire
Soil bin

Motor and transmission

a. Side view

Axis transducer

b. Front view

Fig. 1. Single tire tester on soil bin.

and þFx direction is the lateral direction pointing to the right, in tangential, normal and lateral force at the FE location can be
this experiment. The tangential, normal and lateral forces at the FC calculated by Equation (5) to (7):
location can be calculated by Equation (2) to (4):
Ft ¼
Fycos65
Fxsin65 (5)
Ft ¼ Fy (2)
Fn ¼ Fz (6)
Fn ¼ Fz (3)
Fl ¼ Fysin65
Fxcos65 (7)
Fl ¼ Fx (4)
where Ft is the tangential force, Fn is the normal force (Fig. 4-b) and
The orientation of the tri-axial force transducer for the FE Fl is the lateral force, and Fx, Fy and Fz are the forces measured by a
location differs from that of the FC location (Fig. 4-a), so the tri-axial force transducer. The pressures are calculated with these

Please cite this article in press as: Shao, M., et al., Traction and braking force on three surfaces of agricultural tire lug, Engineering in Agriculture,
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0.6

Fig. 2. Schematic of the pressure sensor. Dimensions are in mm.

20 5

+Y

+X
+Z
6

Fig. 3. Schematic of the tri-axial force sensor. Dimensions are in mm.

forces divided by the area of the detection part of the tri-axial force
transducer.
The rotational angle is recorded at the location TC. The phase
angle of the other sensors can be calculated by the arc distance
from each sensor to TC and the perimeter of tire.
2.3. Experiments
Experiments were conducted in an indoor soil bin that contains
loam. Experimental conditions are shown in Table 1. The soil was
prepared by tilling and leveling with implements and compacting
with a roller for the soil bin after adding adequate water to attain
the desired moisture content before the experiment. The experi-
ment was started after the gear position of transmission was
selected for adjusting slippage. Three replications were used.
Sinkage and travel distance per tire revolution were measured after
each experiment.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Measured braking force
Fig. 5 shows an example of contact pressures at positions LC, FC,
and TC when tire inflation pressure was 118 kPa and slippage
was
10.0%. The contact pressure at the LC location was almost zero
throughout the run. This shows that the leading side of the lug did
not contact to the soil during the tire operation. The FC results show
that the pressure in the longitudinal tangential direction which is
the Fy force direction, were negative values for tire rotational an-
gles from 150 to 183 . The minimum of pressure was
301 kPa and
occurred when the tire rotational angle was 172 . The TC pressures
for tire rotational angles from 165 to 188 were negative values.
The minimum pressure was
80 kPa and occurred when the tire
rotational angle was 176 in this study. This shows that contact
pressures occurred on the lug face and the trailing side of the lug,
and the direction of the reaction from the soil is contrary to the

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160

Fy
65°
114 FE Fx
Fy
15
Fx
Rotational direction

+Ft
FC

TE +Fl
128

LC
TC LE

a. Top view

Rotational direction

Travel direction

Fn = Fz

Ft = Fy
b. Side view at FC

Fig. 4. Locations of sensors mounted in lugs. Dimensions are in mm.

Table 1 by the lug face and the trailing side, so the pressure measured by LC
Experiment conditions. was very small. Other experiments using different tire inflation
Soil Loam (Sand 48.0%, Silt 37.5% and Clay 14.5%) pressures also showed a similar tendency to produce negative
Moisture content 12.9% w.b. pressure values at the FC location and the TC location (Table 2).
Dry bulk density 1.37 g/cm3 Fig. 6 shows a schematic view of contact pressures on the lug
Average cone index Setting 360 kPa
face and the trailing side of the lug. To prevent the tractor from
Setting slippage
10.0%, 10.0%, 20.0%
Inflation Pressure 39.2 kPa, 78.5 kPa, 118 kPa moving forward in an uncontrolled way, negative slip is generated
Static load 1120 N such that the reaction from the soil on the rotary tiller pushes the
tractor forward when the tractor is tilling with a rotary tiller of
down cut operation at a constant rotational speed of the tiller tines.
travel direction. During the tire operation, the soil was compressed The friction on the lug face and the reaction at trailing side of the

Please cite this article in press as: Shao, M., et al., Traction and braking force on three surfaces of agricultural tire lug, Engineering in Agriculture,
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6 M. Shao et al. / Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food xxx (2016) 1e9

200

Travel direction
Contact pressure (kPa)

-200
LC
FC
TC
-400
120 150 180 210
Tire rotational angle (°)

Fig. 5. An example of measured data at tire centerline (Inflation pressure: 118 kPa.
Slippage:
10.0%).
Fig. 6. Schematic view of contact pressure at lug face and trailing side.

lug become negative values, and the horizontal component, caused

400
by those forces acts as a braking force. LC
Tire performance may be improved by improving the design of
the shape of tire lugs. The braking performance might be improved
FC
by changing the taper angle of the trailing lug side for increasing Contect pressure (kPa) TC
200
the contact area of soil under negative slip conditions.
Table 2 shows the results of minimum contact pressure
measured by all of the sensors when the slippage was
10.0% under
three levels of inflation pressure. The minimum value on the outer
0
edge of the tire was larger than that on the centerline of the tire
when the tire inflation pressure was 39.2 kPa. This shows that the
centerline area of the tire flexed inward under insufficient tire
inflation pressure. The minimum value on the outer edge of the tire
-200
was smaller than that on the centerline of the tire when the tire
120 150 180 210
inflation pressure was 118 kPa. This shows that the centerline area
Tire rotational angle (°)
of tire avoided flexing inward under sufficient tire inflation pres-
sure. The braking force at the FC location increases and that at the Fig. 7. An example of measured data at centerline (Inflation pressure: 118 kPa.
FE location decreases when the tire inflation pressure increases. Slippage:10.0%).

3.2. Measured net traction
Fig. 7 shows an example of contact pressures at positions LC, FC,
and TC when the tire inflation pressure was 118 kPa and slippage
was 10.0%. Contact pressure was not generated at position LC and
TC. This shows that the leading side and the trailing side of the lug
did not contact the soil during the tire operation. The contact
pressures of FC for tire rotational angles of 140 to 155 were
negative. The pressures at FC were positive when the rotational
angle was from 155 to 180 . This shows that for these conditions,
the contact pressure was generated on only the lug face. During this
run of the tire, the peak pressure was 144 kPa and it occurred when
the tire rotational angle was 177. As the FC sensor reached the rear
end of contact patch, FC again became a negative value. This shows
that lift resistance occurred when the lug was retracted from the
soil.
Fig. 8 shows a schematic view of the contact pressure on the lug
face. When the slippage is 10.0%, the soil was compressed by the lug
face, so the pressures measured by LC and TC were very small, and
the contact pressures occurred mainly on the lug face. The friction
force on the lug face from the soil becomes a positive value, and the
horizontal component contributes to the net traction when the
tractor moves and the tire slippage is 10.0%. Other experiments
using different tire inflation pressures also showed a similar ten-
dency to produce net traction on the lug face as shown in Table 3.
Fig. 9 shows an example of contact pressures at positions LC, FC,

Table 2
The minimum contact pressure when the slippage was
10.0%.

Inflation pressure (kPa) Location Minimum Value (kPa) Location Minimum Value (kPa)

39.2 LC 7 LE 4
FC
187 FE
304
TC
85 TE
107
78.5 LC 7 LE 2
FC
291 FE
262
TC
81 TE
105
118 LC 4 LE 5
FC
301 FE
230
TC
80 TE
100

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400
LC
Travel direction FC

Contact pressure (kPa)

TC
200

-200
120 150 180 210
Tire rotational angle (°)

Fig. 9. An example of measured data at centerline (Inflation pressure: 118 kPa.

Slippage:20.0%).
Fig. 8. Schematic view of contact pressure at lug face.

angle and the size of these surfaces.

and TC when the tire inflation pressure was 118 kPa and slippage
was 20.0%. In the figure, contact pressure was not generated at the
position TC. This shows that the trailing side of the lug did not
contact the soil for these conditions. The LC pressure was positive
for tire rotational angles from 164 to 184 . The peak pressure was
158 kPa and it occurred when the tire rotational angle was 176 .The
FC pressure was positive for tire rotational angles from 155 to 187.
The peak pressure was 261 kPa when the tire rotational angle was
174 for these conditions. This shows that the contact pressures
occur on the lug face and the leading side of a lug when the di-
rection of the reaction from soil is same as the travel direction.
During the tire operation, the soil was compressed by the lug face
and the leading side of the lug, so the pressure measured by TC was
very small. The reactions of soil at the lug face and the leading side
contribute to the net traction of a tire. Other experiments of
different tire inflation pressure also show a similar tendency to
produce net traction as shown in Table 4.
Fig. 10 shows a schematic view of contact pressure on a lug face
and the leading side of a lug. When the tractor works with some
tillage implements such as a plow, the reaction from soil during
plowing will be resistance to forward motion of the tractor. In order
to keep moving forward, the slippage of tire will be increased. The
friction at lug face and the reaction at the leading side of a lug
become positive values, and the longitudinal component of them
contributes to net traction.
To improve tire performance through designing the shape of tire
lug. Kishimoto et al. derived the design equations of the angle of
installation of the trailing lug side to reduce the motion resistance
(Kishimoto et al., 1991b). In order to increase the net traction
developed by the lug face and leading lug side, authors think future
research should include analysis of the design equation of the taper
Table 3 shows the results of maximum contact pressure
measured by all of sensors when the slippage was 10.0% under
three levels of inflation pressure. The net traction generated at FC
and FE have similar tendency to the results in Table 2.
Table 4 shows the results of maximum contact pressure
measured by all of sensors when the slippage was 20.0% under
three levels of tire inflation pressure. The effect of tire inflation
pressure on net traction is small when the slippage is increased.
3.3. Vertical and horizontal components of resultant force by axis
transducer
In this study, the axis transducer was used to verify the accuracy
for results of the tri-axial transducer and pressure sensors. Fig. 11
shows an example of vertical force (Fv) and horizontal force (Fh)
measured by the axis transducer when the inflation pressure was
118 kPa and slippage was
10.0%. Fh becomes a negative value and
is a braking force when the tire is operated at negative slippage. The
average of Fv and Fh of the tire axis were 933 N and
542 N,
respectively. Fig. 12 shows an example of Fv and Fh measured by the
axis transducer when the inflation pressure was 118 kPa and slip-
page was 10.0%. Fh becomes a positive value and is the net traction
when the tire is operated at positive slippage. The average of Fv and
Fh of the tire axis were 903 N and 122 N, respectively. Fig. 13 shows
an example of Fv and Fh measured by the axis transducer when the
inflation pressure was 118 kPa and slippage was 20.0%. Fh become a
positive value and is the net traction when the tire is operated at
positive slippage. The average of Fv and Fh of the tire axis were
772 N and 448 N, respectively.
Horizontal forces measured from surfaces of a tire lug have a
similar tendency to results by the axis transducer under positive

Table 3
The maximum contact pressure when the slippage was 10.0%.

Inflation pressure (kPa) Location Maximum Value (kPa) Location Maximum Value (kPa)

39.2 LC 4 LE 25
FC 36 FE 206
TC 14 TE 44
78.5 LC 1 LE 4
FC 123 FE 115
TC 2 TE 1
118 LC 3 LE 2
FC 144 FE 97
TC 2 TE 2

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Table 4
The maximum contact pressure when the slippage was 20.0%.

Inflation pressure (kPa) Location Maximum Value (kPa) Location Maximum Value (kPa)

39.2 LC 113 LE 121

FC 213 FE 270
TC 3 TE 2
78.5 LC 197 LE 157
FC 253 FE 189
TC 4 TE 3
118 LC 158 LE 148
FC 261 FE 262
TC 2 TE 2

1200

800
Travel direction

Force (N)
400

0
Fv
-400 Fh

-800
90 120 150 180 210 240
Tire rotational angle (°)

Fig. 12. Example of vertical and horizontal forces measured by axis transducer
(Inflation pressure: 118 kPa. Slippage: 10.0%).

1200
Fig. 10. Schematic view of contact pressure at lug face and leading side.

800

1200
Force (N)

400

800 Fv
0
Fv Fh
Force (N)

400
Fh -400

0
-800
90 120 150 180 210 240
-400 Tire rotational angle (°)

-800
90 120 150 180
Tire rotational angle (°)
Fig. 11. Example of vertical and horizontal forces measured by axis transducer
(Inflation pressure: 118 kPa. Slippage:
10.0%).
and negative slippage conditions. Table 5 shows the average value
of others experiment conditions. The results also show a similar
tendency to produce braking force and net traction. In addition, net
traction and braking force have a tendency to decrease slightly
when the inflation pressure is high. The dynamic load has a ten-
dency to decrease slightly when the slippage becomes high.
Fig. 13. Example of vertical and horizontal forces measured by axis transducer
(Inflation pressure: 118 kPa. Slippage: 20.0%).
210 240
surface under the positive and negative slippage conditions for
designing the shape of the tire lug. In this study, the direction of
external forces on three surfaces of an agricultural tire lug were
measured under positive and negative slippage. The contact reac-
tion on the lug face of an agricultural tire was measured with a tri-
Table 5
Measurement results of axis transducer (N).
Slippage
10.0% 10.0% 20.0%

Inflation pressure (kPa) Fh Fv Fh Fv Fh Fv

4. Conclusions 39.2
559 942 119 933 470 823

78.5
547 942 122 911 455 836
118
542 933 122 903 448 772
It is important to determine forces applied to the tire tread

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 M. Shao et al. / Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food xxx (2016) 1e9
axial force transducer. The contact pressures on leading side and
trailing side of lugs were measured with pressure sensors. The ef-
fects of contact pressures on three surfaces of lugs were analyzed
using negative slippage, assuming the tractor is tilling with a rotary
tiller and positive slippage, assuming that the tractor is tilling with
a plow. The following conclusions were drawn from the
experiments.
(1) When slippage was
10.0%, contact pressures were detected
on a lug face and a trailing side of the lug, but were not
detected on leading side of the lug. Thus, the longitudinal
force applied by the soil to the tire is in the rearward direc-
tion, similar to a braking force, as would occur when a tractor
is used with a rotary tiller of down cut operation.
(2) When slippage was 10.0%, the contact pressures were
measured on only the lug face. Thus, the friction on a lug face
is the net traction.
(3) When slippage was 20.0%, the contact forces were detected
on the lug face and the leading side of the lug, but were not
detected on trailing side of the lug. Thus, when the slippage
is a relatively large positive value, the longitudinal force
applied by the soil to the tire is in the forward direction, as
would occur when a tractor is used for a plowing operation.
(4) The motion resistance and the braking force of resultant
forces were measured with the tri-axial force transducer at
the center of a lug face. Results show the same tendency as
what was measured with the axis transducer on tire axis of
rotation.
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