Paper presented at ISTVS 2025 | 55th Conference of the International Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems https://doi.org/10.56884/9ZVW2E8H
Authors: Michael Parker, Clifford Witte, Allan Wheeler, Susan Frankenstein
Keywords: Mobility; vehicle; Arctic; freeze/thaw; field capacity; organic; soils
Abstract:
Frost susceptible soils include a wide variety of soil types from highly organic to fine grained silty soils. These soils can pose significant mobility challenges during each of the four seasons especially during the freeze/thaw transition periods between seasons. These mobility challenges have been on display during several conflicts throughout history with the most recent being the war in Ukraine. Maintaining mobility superiority during conflict is critical to avoiding immobilization and becoming a target while maintaining mobility in the Arctic can have similar consequences because immobilization can mean the difference between life or death due to the harsh environmental conditions. This research studies the effects on vehicle mobility across three vehicle classes including both wheeled and tracked platforms operating on peat and silty soils at field capacity. Testing occurred on unfrozen, partially frozen, fully frozen, and partially thawed soil conditions to capture the maximum tractive force during these transitional seasons and better predict cross-country vehicle mobility.
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