Experimental studies of the performance of a tracked bulldozer

One of the areas of productivity improvement is the correct choice of its operating modes of the bulldozer unit. Maximum traction efforts are limited by the coupling properties of the bulldozer on the one hand, and the capabilities of the motor-transmission unit of the base tractor on the other hand. At the same time, vertical reactions in contact with the ground, considering additional efforts from the blade, can be 1.5 times greater than the weight of the base tractor. This allowed us to formulate the goal of the study: to study the patterns of change in the productivity of the bulldozer unit depending on the traction efforts of the base tractor in various soil conditions. The technical productivity of the bulldozer was determined using the example of a crawler bulldozer manufactured by the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant with a mechanical transmission. The experiment was carried out during trench development of soil of I–III categories with backfilling it into a cavalier. During the experiment, the volume of developed soil was measured when working in various gears. As a result of processing the results, dependences of the drag prism on the traction force on different soils were obtained. It was revealed that the dependence of technical performance on the specific traction force has a clearly expressed maximum. This allowed us to give recommendations on the rational choice of gear for trenching on dense soil (second gear) and soft soil (fourth gear).