Field and Laboratory Research of the Rut Development Process on Forest Roads

Abstract

The main tasks of this research are an extended analysis of the technological rut formation process’s geometric, force, and energy characteristics as a result of repeated passage of a forest machine on the soil surface. Existing experimental studies of the rutting process are associated with significant material costs and disruption of the forest ecosystem. The purpose of this study is to obtain similar experimental data in laboratory conditions, as well as establishing the correspondence of these experimental results to the results of field studies. The experiments were carried out on the specialized “soil channel” stand of Technical University in Zvolen (Slovakia), as well as in natural conditions in Brody Forestry of the Lviv Region (Ukraine). Geometric track characteristics were determined by length gauges. Power and energy characteristics of the track development process were determined using dynamometers, ammeters, and voltmeters. The physical and mechanical characteristics of the soil with which the mover interacted were determined by a dynamic hardness tester, a penetrometer, and a moisture meter. The characteristics of rut development processes in natural and laboratory conditions are similar to each other. This makes it possible to carry out a wide range of studies of a wheel with soil on a specialized stand and save considerable money during the implementation of full-scale experiments. So, the process of track development can be analyzed with the help of the geometric, force, and energy characteristics of the “wheel-soil” system obtained on laboratory equipment.