Calculation of the effective normal stiffness of a deformable wheel with a tilted rotation axis

The research is relevant for the trajectory movement design modeling of the of vehicles on deformable support wheels. The purpose of the research: to obtain a theoretical dependence for calculating the effective normal stiffness of a deformable wheel with an inclined rotation axis. Mathematical relationships between this stiffness and the rotation axis tilt angle of the wheel are defined. It is determined that the effective normal stiffness changes by a factor of Kaz at specified tilt angle. A theoretical dependence for calculating the correction factor Kaz was obtained. The dependence is a function of the wheel design parameters and the rotation axis tilt angle. The dependence is correct at angles up to 10 degrees. At tilt angles that are permissible under the conditions of wheel wear (up to 5 degrees), the effective normal stiffness is significantly reduced, for example, for the study object, up to 25%. The validity of the theoretical dependence is confirmed by laboratory experiments on a specially designed stand for measuring the parameters of the elastic properties of the deformable wheel at different positions of its rotation axis. Based on the processing of the experimental data, the calculation error of Kaz according to the obtained theoretical dependence was determined, which does not exceed 6%.