The main indicators for mobility of a multipurpose wheeled vehicle are the maximum and average technical velocity (it is defined as the distance traveled divided by the time elapsed), and they are mainly determined by power-to-weight ratio and the parameters of the suspension. As our analysis shows, with the increase of the power-to-weight ratio of the vehicle and its weight, the growth rate of the velocity is reduced, and after reaching a certain value, the velocity remains almost constant. This is due to the fact that for operating conditions of the multi-purpose wheeled vehicle, movement on roads with different degrees of uneven distribution of the rolling resistance and adhesion, in both transverse and longitudinal directions, is typical.
In this investigation we evaluate the effectiveness of the main methods of power distribution between the drive wheels of the multipurpose wheeled vehicles: disabling of drive axles, blocking of cross-axle and inter-axle differentials, a slowdown of slipping wheels.
It was revealed that the transmission of a promising multipurpose wheeled vehicle has to be modernized in the following ways: 1) all-wheel drive with the rational value of the gear ratio of inter-axle differential; 2) realization of the possibility of periodic shutdown of the drive axles when road conditions are good, or turning on the additional driving axles of the trailer when the road conditions require significant drive forces and torques; 3) providing of limited excess capacity of power unit by reducing the fuel supply or applying braking torque to the slipping wheels; 4) providing of rigid kinematic connection in the movement process with compensation of the kinematic mismatch by adjusting of air pressure in the tires.
At present, the effectiveness of the proposed methods of power distribution has been investigated in different extent. Thus, there arises the problem of the complex evaluation of the effectiveness of methods of the power distribution between the drive wheels of the multi-purpose wheeled vehicle. This investigation is devoted to this problem.