Analytical Study of Stress Distribution Models for Estimation of Stresses beneath Plain Rigid Wheels & Vertical Force on TRI-1 Lunar Soil Simulant

In this paper, three stress distribution models were considered, namely; Reece (1965), Bekker (1969), Wong-Reece (1967); Two types of wheels are considered for the preset study, i.e., small wheel with diameter of 160 mm and width 32 mm whereas for large wheel with diameter of 210 mm and width of 50 mm. TRI-1 or Tiruchirappalli soil simulant is considered for the interaction studies, which is an anorthosite based lunar soil simulant. The normal stress, shear stress and vertical forces are determined when the wheel starts moving on the TRI-1 soil simulant. Entry and exit angle are also calculated for all models to estimate vertical forces.
The maximum normal stress found for small wheel was 32.121 kN/m2(Wong-Reece model). In case of large wheel, the maximum normal stress found, 39.016 kN/m2(Reece model). Vertical forces are found from the obtained normal stresses and shear stresses, and are presented graphically. Found Dimensionless Stress Ratio’s of both the wheels, for considered models, i.e., DNSR&DSSR.