LIGHTWEIGHT RESEARCH OF FORESTRY UNMANNED VEHICLE SWING ARMS BASED ON MULTI-CONDITION TOPOLOGY OPTIMIZATION OF CONTINUUM STRUCTURES

To meet the demanding terrain of China’s forest regions—characterized by obstacles, gullies, and uneven ground—a wheel-leg hybrid chassis is proposed for a three-axle unmanned electric forestry vehicle. Parametric modelling in SolidWorks and dynamic simulations in MSC Adams quantified the critical load cases on the swing arms during obstacle negotiation. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) assigned optimal weights for multi-scenario topology optimisation. A finite-element model of the arms was built in HyperMesh/OptiStruct; post-optimisation analyses confirmed structural integrity. Masses of the front and rear arms converged to 31.3 kg each, and the middle arm to 39.44 kg, realising weight reductions of 29.1 % and 21.7 %, respectively, with no loss in performance.