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Ground vehicles
Journal of Terramechanics, 1980, Vol. 17, No. 3, p. 161 Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain ~', International Society for Terrain Vehicle Systems
0022--1-898/80/0901-0161 SOL (20/0
BOOK REVIEW Ground Vehicles, by J. Y. WOYG, Wiley, New York (1979), 320 pp.; £16.90. TttERE HAS for a long time been a need for a book describing the relations between the performance of both off-road and road vehicles, their running gear and the properties of the surfaces on which they operate. Too often such machines are designed as if they are static, with great sophistication within and extra-ordinary crudeness without, in suspension, steering, wheels and brakes. Although this situation is now past in relation to motor cars it still exists in many other fields. One of the reasons for this is that these external problems have proved the most difficult to analyse and the progress that has been made is hidden in a vast literature of variable quality and much obscurity. The book is divided into eight chapters on tyres, soil-vehicle mechanics, performance and braking of road vehicles, performance of off-road vehicles, handling, steering of tracked vehicles, ride and an introduction to air cushion vehicles. The emphasis is on giving a clear explanation of the physics of the problem, followed by a mathematical analysis that provides at least the basis for a quantitative approach. A considerable amount of well chosen data is presented, so that at the very least, some useful ideas of orders of magnitude can be obtained. There are problems at the end of each chapter which are interesting and practical and will be found useful to the practising engineer as well as the student. The book is basically in S.I. units with imperial units in brackets for the benefit of its American readers. The English, the mathematics and the data are presented with admirable precision. It is possible to criticize the book's selection of material, which is based very much on the Author's own field of interest and expertise. However, the field is large, space limited and the requirements of its readers very varied. Again there are places where the treatment presented is a little old fashioned, but on reflection, the newer approach is more complex and would take up more space. In most of such cases the excellent lists of references direct the reader to the proper, more elaborate sources. A book that deserves a place in every design office concerned with self-propelled machines. A. R. REECE
161
0022--1-898/80/0901-0161 SOL (20/0
BOOK REVIEW Ground Vehicles, by J. Y. WOYG, Wiley, New York (1979), 320 pp.; £16.90. TttERE HAS for a long time been a need for a book describing the relations between the performance of both off-road and road vehicles, their running gear and the properties of the surfaces on which they operate. Too often such machines are designed as if they are static, with great sophistication within and extra-ordinary crudeness without, in suspension, steering, wheels and brakes. Although this situation is now past in relation to motor cars it still exists in many other fields. One of the reasons for this is that these external problems have proved the most difficult to analyse and the progress that has been made is hidden in a vast literature of variable quality and much obscurity. The book is divided into eight chapters on tyres, soil-vehicle mechanics, performance and braking of road vehicles, performance of off-road vehicles, handling, steering of tracked vehicles, ride and an introduction to air cushion vehicles. The emphasis is on giving a clear explanation of the physics of the problem, followed by a mathematical analysis that provides at least the basis for a quantitative approach. A considerable amount of well chosen data is presented, so that at the very least, some useful ideas of orders of magnitude can be obtained. There are problems at the end of each chapter which are interesting and practical and will be found useful to the practising engineer as well as the student. The book is basically in S.I. units with imperial units in brackets for the benefit of its American readers. The English, the mathematics and the data are presented with admirable precision. It is possible to criticize the book's selection of material, which is based very much on the Author's own field of interest and expertise. However, the field is large, space limited and the requirements of its readers very varied. Again there are places where the treatment presented is a little old fashioned, but on reflection, the newer approach is more complex and would take up more space. In most of such cases the excellent lists of references direct the reader to the proper, more elaborate sources. A book that deserves a place in every design office concerned with self-propelled machines. A. R. REECE
161