Prediction of the Lifetime of Shock Absorbers of Tracked Vehicles Using the Degradation Data

Shock absorbers are an essential part of the chassis of all tracked vehicles and their technical condition significantly affects both the driving characteristics and the ability to conduct aimed fire while driving. During the operation of the vehicle, there is a gradual degradation of the functional characteristics of the shock absorbers caused by mechanical wear of their parts, which is manifested by a reduction in the damping force exerted by the shock absorber. When the degradation of the functional characteristics of the damper reaches a critical level, it is necessary to displace the damper and replace it with a new damper. For this reason, it is advisable to monitor and evaluate the progress of degradation continuously. This paper presents a procedure that allows to determine the dependence of the level of damper degradation on the distance covered by the vehicle. Knowledge of such dependence then allows to predict the technical life of the shock absorber or to predict the remaining technical life based on the evaluation of the current degradation level. The practical application of the proposed method is presented using the example of a rotary damper used in a tank design. © 2022 Kaunas University of Technology. All rights reserved.