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The Serpentine Drive Analysis Program (SDAP) is developed for designing flexible member (i.e. roller chain, synchronous belt, and V-belt) serpentine drives. The program, based on industry standard design procedures, provides the user with a design tool for investigating alternative configurations. SDAP calculates driver sizes, geometrical relationships, and force transmission characteristics. Basic design methodology is discussed, and two examples illustrate the usage and flexibility of the program.

European and American suspension systems are described for improving the operator ride comfort on off-road vehicles. Analytical methods are then described to predict the dynamic behavior of a vehicle and human ride response criteria. The approach includes the selection of a terrain input to excite the vehicle model formulated by the generalized mechanical system simulation programs. An example involving an agricultural tractor-plow system is presented to illustrate the techniques.

Applications of active suspension control for both on-highway and off-highway vehicles are reviewed. Suspension design is evaluated in terms of ride vibration exposure and road/terrain handling. Active, semi-active, and slow-active suspension types are described in terms of their performance capabilities. Finally, numerous design concepts and their application to a wide range of ground vehicle types (i.e, truck, automotive, agricultural, and construction) are described.

The application of computer-aided engineering techniques to the design of off-road equipment reduces the development time and improves the performance and reliability. This paper discusses the applications of wireframe and solid geometric graphics techniques for the design engineering process (synthesis and analysis) of agricultureal equipment. From the illustrative examples, wireframe modeling best characterizes the design function of the mechanism or vehicle, while solid geometric modeling describes the best visualization of the machine and its component systems.