Photoelasticity-based Analysis on Orientational Order of Force Chains of Granular Terrain Beneath a Terrain Beneath a Traveling Wheel

This paper presents photoelasticity-based force chain analyses for wheel-terrain interaction. The photoelastic experiments can visualize internal force distributions of the terrain beneath the traveling wheel. In this method, the photoelastic disks emulate granular terrain particles. Through the experiments, we evaluated the force chains at large and small wheel slip conditions, then calculated their orientational order. The experimental results show the fundamental characteristics of the force chains at different slip conditions.