Analysis of Longitudinal Braking Stability of Lightweight Liquid Storage Mini-Track Vehicles

In this study, a theoretical model was established for longitudinal braking stability (LBS) of a lightweight liquid storage mini-track vehicle to investigate its behaviors. The influence of the tank liquid filling ratio (TLR), initial velocity (IV), and initial braking deceleration (IBD) on the LBS of the tracked vehicle was studied via FLUENT simulation. The simulation results showed that when the IV and the IBD were constant, the TLR significantly affected the braking efficiency. Conversely, when the TLR was 0.7, the braking efficiency decreased by 32%, resulting in the worst LBS. The braking efficiency at different IVs decreased by ~30% when using a constant IBD and TLR, and the braking stability exhibited little difference. Further, the braking efficiency decreased noticeably with increasing IBD; meanwhile, the braking longitudinal stability worsened. When the IBD was increased to 5 m⋅s−2, the braking efficiency decreased by 48.4%. The road experiment showed that when the tracked vehicle was accelerated and braked under limit conditions, the stability requirements were met. Finally, by combining the simulation and road experiment, the driving parameters of the tracked vehicle that could satisfy the LBS were obtained.