Real Time Tire Soil Parameters of a Tractor in Tillage Applications

Abstract

The losses occurring in the tire-soil contact dominate the system efficiency of a tractor in tillage applications. The operator can minimize these losses by adjusting the ballasting and the tire inflation pressures of the tractor. Analyzing scientific publications on off-highway traction shows that the lowest permissible tire inflation pressure does not necessarily lead to maximal tractive efficiency. The tire inflation pressure for maximal tractive efficiency has to be determined for the current traction conditions. Therefore, tire-soil mappings for different tire inflation pressures were generated from sensor data and evaluated based upon the resulting tractive efficiencies. The investigations initially confirm that working at the edge of the tire load capacity does not always lead to maximum tractive efficiency. The evaluation of different tire pressures on the basis of tire-soil mappings is suitable for homogeneous traction conditions, while the evaluation of heterogeneous traction conditions needs further research.