J.Y. Wong, P. Jayakumar, E. Toma, J. Preston-Thomas
Journal of Terramechanics, Volume 87, 2020, Pages 11-20, ISSN 0022-4898
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jterra.2019.10.003. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002248981930120X)
Abstract: In the United States, the NATO Reference Mobility Model (NRMM) has been used for evaluating military ground vehicle mobility and the Vehicle Cone Index (VCI) has been selected as a mobility metric. VCI represents the minimum soil strength required for a vehicle to consistently make a specific number of passes, usually one or fifty passes. In the United Kingdom, the Mean Maximum Pressure (MMP) has been adopted as a metric for assessing military vehicle cross-country mobility. MMP is the mean value of the maxima occurring under all the wheel stations of a vehicle. Both VCI and MMP are empirically based. This paper presents a review of the basis upon which VCI and MMP were developed, as well as their applications to evaluating vehicle mobility in practice. With the progress in terramechanics and in modelling and simulation techniques in recent years, there is a growing desire to develop physics-based mobility metrics for next generation vehicle mobility models. Based on the review, criteria for selecting physics-based mobility metrics are proposed. Following these criteria, metrics for characterizing military vehicle traction limits and traversability on a given operating area are recommended.
Keywords: Cross-country performance; Empirically based mobility metrics; Mean maximum pressure; Military vehicles; Mobility metrics; Physics-based mobility metrics; Tracked vehicles; Vehicle cone index; Vehicle mobility models; Wheeled vehicles