Physics of Caterpillar Tracks :: physics tank tracks

Every time you see one of the CATs clearing the pile at university of the snow, you probably dont see anything amazing about it. However, computed axial tomography tracks employ on it are just ingenious and its invention is comparable to the invention of the wheel.HistoryFirst vehicles powered by the steam engine started to advance in the early 1800s. Various machines started slowly replace horses. It was especially current for the jobs that required a lot of power. Transportation, of course, was the first and the most beneficial adopter. Goods could be carried across large distances with relative ease. No wonder that farmers were also gauge to adopt engines. By that time most of the work was done victimisation horses and basic tools.ProblemsSteam powered harvesters and tractors were introduced by the end of 19th century. It started to bit by bit replace horses. However in some regions they created new problems as well. Vehicles be to be too ominous for soft soils and oft en stuck and even sunk. Experiments with conglomerate sizes of wheels didnt produce good results. Increasing size of wheels just made vehicles heavier and more(prenominal) difficult to operate.Benjamin Holt of Holt Manufacturing figured that using an old trick of pouting flesh outs originally the wheel would improve cross-country ability. By doing so, it provides solid plane for mend traction and lower pressure on the ground since size of the plank is larger then of the wheel.BasicsThe main advantage of the track all over the wheels is that it can distribute a very large force over a large area. That means that instead of applying all the force on little area where wheels touch the ground, it applies it over the whole area of the track.In physics terms it can be expressed as P = F / Awhere P is pressure, F is force and A is area. little force applied to every square meter means that its harder for the heavy vehicle to sink into the ground. Another benefit of the tracks is tha t large area of while away allows to have a very good traction with the ground. That is why tracks are used for mission critical jobs, including military use and high be operations, such as excavations and space rocket movements.DrawbacksEven though caterpillar tracks provide very good cross-country ability, they have its drawbacks. Because of the weight and the saying of tracks speed of the vehicle is limited in comparison to the wheeled machines.