INTRODUCTION

Classification Of Vehicle Based On No. Of Traction Drive:

Two wheel drive or 2WD : describes vehicles with a drivetrain that allows two wheels to receive power from the engine simultaneously.

Four-wheel drive, 4WD: is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously.

FOUR DIFFERENT TYPE OF FOUR WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES

Four wheel drive front- steered unit, with a third

differential.
Four wheel steering and two automatic locking

differentials.
Four wheel steering and two locking differentials. Electrically propelled with a motor at each wheel.

TYPES OF FOUR WHEEL DRIVE TRACTORS

FOUR WHEEL DRIVE WITH ALL THE TYRES OF

SAME SIZE.
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE WITH FRONT TYRES

SMALLER AND REAR BIGGER

CHARACTERSTICS OF 4WD TRACTOR:

1. Tractor with all four wheels in driven mode.

2. Power being supplied to both rear & front axles. 3. Separate differential arrangements.

4. Limited slip differential in front wheels.

5. Both front & rear wheels having lugs.

6. Equal weights on rear and front axles.

WHY 4WD ?
Total weight of 4W is utilized for the development of

thrust.
Has potential of developing higher thrust over soft

terrain .
2WD utilizes only about 60-70% of the total weight.

4WD with the same size tires for the front & rear

axles usually has a lower coefficient of rolling resistance than 2WD.

OBJECTIVE
EFFECT OF FOUR WHEEL DRIVE ON TRACTIVE PERFORMANCE ,SOIL COMPACTION AND STABILITY.

DESIGN CONSIDERATION:
(1) With the front wheels steered by a form of Ackerman steering. (2) With all four wheels steered by some form of Ackerman steering.

(3) Articulated-frame steered .

(4) With a rigid frame, and steered by some form of skid system such as clutch and brake.

Engine

Limited slip differential

Open differential

Front axle drive shaft Mechanical front wheel drive engagement clutch

Main components of front and rear wheel drive in 4WD tractor

Power transmission to front and rear axle in 4WD tractor

For a optimum Tractive Efficiency in 4wd tractor, Slip Efficiency is taken in consideration.

Slip Efficiency s4 of 4WD

i f Vtf Ff i r Vtr Ff s4 1 Vtf Ff Vtr Fr

where
s4 = slip efficiency of 4WD tractor if and ir = slip of the front and rear wheels Vtf and Vtr = theoretical speed of the front and rear wheels Ff and Fr = the tractive effort of the front and rear wheels

Relationship between Translatory speed of front wheel &rear wheel

Vtf (1 if ) Vtr (1 i r ) V

From eqns (1) and (2)

1 i r / (1 if ) if Vtr Ff i r Vtr Fr s4 1 1 ir / 1 if Vtr Ff Vtr Fr

if (1 i r ) (if i r )kd 1 (1 i r ) (if i r )kd
where kd = coefficient of thrust distribution = Fr/(Ff +Fr)

For optimum thrust distribution

s4 (1 i f )(1 i r )(i f i r ) 0 2 k d 1 i r (i f i r )k d

The condition is satisfied if if or ir =100% or if = ir Hence, for most efficient operation of a 4WD tractor, if= ir For which,

s4 (1 i f ) or (1 i r )

Field performance
Tractive performance:
Tractive performance of a four-wheel drive tractor is superior to that of its two-wheel drive.
All the weight is used by a four-wheel drive tractor to develop

traction. Four-wheel drive enables the tractor to develop the same tractive force with less overall weight.
The front tyres of a four-wheel drive tractor will have a lower

rolling resistance than those of a two-wheel drive tractor, by virtue of their greater diameter.

Reed et al. ,in a series of tests on single tyres, found the track left by the front tyre of two-wheel drive tractor had very little effect on the performance of the rear tyre. Holm, looked at the effects of the third and fourth passes, using both driven and towed wheels.

Adams studied the

1.Behaviour of the same tractor when arranged as a crawler, fourwheel drive, and two-wheel drive machine . 2.Compared the Various steering systems: (1) Ackerman steering on two wheels, front or rear; (2) Ackerman steering on all four wheels; (3) Articulated-frame steering; (4) Skid steering for wheels or tracks.

SOIL COMPACTION
Reed et al. measured the stresses in soil under centre line of various tires. 1. 2. 3. 13-38 tractor drive tire supporting 1900 kg. 6-16 front tire supporting 270 kg. 11-38 drive tire loaded to 1130 kg. with two passes.

Safety and stability:

High draught forces caused significant weight transfer to the rear of a tractor. The weight to the rear-which is advantageous for traction, but will also exacerbate compaction. Tapp clarified this by taking data from Dwyer and Pearsons comparative tests on two- and four-wheel drive tractors and calculating the dynamic weight transfer at 20% slip.

The advantages and disadvantages of different types of four-wheel drive tractor.

CONCLUSION
4WD has more tractive force due to gross vehicle weight use and due to multi pass effect.

4WD has lower rolling resistance.

Stability is improved.

4WD reduces soil compaction by:

Lowering wheel slip. Lessening the disparity between front and rear axle load. Increasing the tire contact area.

References :
Rackham, D.H. and Blight, D.P.1985.Four Wheel Drive Tractors

A Review. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 31 ,185-201 Dwyer, M.H. and Pearson, G.1976. A Field Comparison of the Tractive Performance of Two-and Four-Wheel Drive Tractors. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 21, 77-85 Holm, 1. C. Multi-pass behaviour of pneumatic tires. J. Terramechanics, 1969 6 (1) 47-71
Wong, J.Y.2001. Theory of Ground Vehicle.

1)With the front wheels steered by a form of Ackerman steering.

This type often has the front wheels substantially smaller than the rear wheels when built into an agricultural tractor. The drive to the front wheels is by some form of universal joint.

2) With all four wheels steered by some form of Ackerman steering.

The steering of this tractor can be selected by the operator from three alternatives: (i) Normal two-wheel steering using the front wheels;

(ii) Four-wheel diagonal steering where all wheels angle in the same direction to provide crab-wise movement; (iii) Four-wheel steering in which the rear wheels angle in the opposite direction to the front wheels is effected by swiveling about this axle .

(3) Articulated-frame steered Here the tractor frame is hinged about a vertical axis. Steering effected by swiveling about this axle .

(4) With a rigid frame, and steered by some form of skid system such as clutch and brake.
The front wheels of this class of tractor are usually the same size as the rear ones .