The steel track undercarriage with rubber pads is a composite structure that combines the strength and durability of steel tracks with the shock absorption, noise reduction, and road protection features of rubber. It plays a significant role in various mechanical applications, particularly in scenarios where both off-road capability and urban/paved road driving are required. Here are its main application areas and advantages:
1. Construction Machinery:
Excavators: They are very common in urban construction, road maintenance, landscaping, and other scenarios where they need to operate close to buildings or frequently move on paved roads. Rubber tracks significantly reduce damage to asphalt and concrete roads, lower driving noise and vibration, enhance operator comfort, and minimize disturbance to the surrounding environment.
Small/Medium-sized Bulldozers/Loaders: These are also widely used in situations where they need to switch between paved roads (such as municipal projects, factory areas) and soft ground (such as earthwork, construction waste). Rubber tracks offer better road protection and smoothness.
Skid Steers/Compact Track Loaders: These machines are inherently designed for multi-functionality and flexibility in confined spaces and various terrains, including indoors. Rubber-tracked steel tracks are almost standard, providing both the maneuverability and road-friendliness of wheeled equipment and the traction, stability, and ground adaptability of tracked equipment.
Drilling Machines/Pile Drivers: When entering urban construction sites or sensitive areas, it is crucial to minimize damage to existing roads and reduce noise.
2. Agricultural Machinery:
Large tractors: Mainly used for high-power and heavy-load field operations. When frequent transfer between fields and rural hard roads (concrete roads, asphalt roads) is required, rubber-blocked tracks can effectively protect public roads, reduce road surface damage from rolling, lower driving noise and vibration, improve driving comfort, and reduce soil compaction (compared to wheels, tracks have a larger ground contact area and lower pressure).
Combine harvesters: During the harvest season, when long-distance relocation or driving on hard field roads is necessary, rubber-blocked tracks can protect the road surface and reduce the impact of vibration on precision equipment.
Sprayers/fertilizers: Large self-propelled equipment often needs to travel on public roads after field operations. Rubber-blocked tracks are more friendly to roads.
3. Special Vehicles:
Fire Ladder Trucks/Rescue Vehicles: Some heavy-duty fire or rescue vehicles use tracked chassis to enhance stability and load-bearing capacity. The rubber blocks on the tracks enable them to travel quickly and quietly on paved roads such as city streets and sidewalks, reaching the rescue site while avoiding damage to the road surface.
Military Logistics/Engineering Vehicles: In military bases, near facility areas, or when covert operations are required, it is necessary to reduce noise and protect the internal roads of the base.
Large Mobile Cranes: Some heavy-duty mobile cranes that require extremely high stability and low ground pressure use tracked chassis. The rubber blocks help protect the road surface when entering construction sites or making short-distance transfers.
4. Forestry Machinery:
Felling Machines/Forwarders: Modern forestry machinery often operates between forest roads (which may be simply laid or dirt and stone roads) and rough forest terrain. Rubber block tracks cause less damage to the road surface, generate less noise, and provide a more comfortable ride when traveling on relatively hard roads compared to pure steel tracks. At the same time, they retain strong traction and passability in muddy and steep forest terrain.
The core advantages of adding rubber blocks:
1. Protecting paved roads: Preventing direct scraping and crushing of asphalt, concrete, tiles, marble and other hard surfaces by steel track plates. This is the most fundamental driving force for its application.
2. Significantly reducing noise: Rubber absorbs and buffers the loud noise generated by the impact of steel track plates on hard surfaces, reducing noise pollution to the urban environment and operators.
3. Reducing vibration: Rubber blocks provide cushioning, greatly reducing the vibration transmitted to the frame and cab during equipment operation and travel, significantly improving operator comfort and reducing fatigue.
4. Improving traction (on specific surfaces): On hard, dry or wet paved surfaces, rubber blocks offer better grip than smooth steel tracks (similar to tires), reducing slippage, especially during climbing or braking.
5. Lowering ground pressure: Rubber blocks increase the ground contact area, further reducing the pressure exerted by the equipment on soft ground (such as lawns, unhardened soil), minimizing sinking and damage.
6. Enhancing comfort and maneuverability: Lower vibration and noise, along with better grip on hard surfaces, improve the driving experience and maneuvering confidence.
Design Considerations and Limitations:
1. Rubber Block Wear: Rubber blocks wear out on hard and rough surfaces, and their lifespan is usually shorter than that of the steel track body. Regular inspection and replacement are necessary. After wear, the protection of the road surface and noise reduction effect will decline.
2. Fixation Method: Rubber blocks are usually fixed to the steel track plates (track links) by bolts or vulcanized bonding. A reliable connection method is required to prevent detachment.
3. Cost: Compared to pure steel tracks, the addition of rubber blocks and their fixation structures increases the cost.
4. Extreme Working Conditions Limitations: In extremely harsh conditions such as high temperatures, sharp rocks, strong chemical corrosion, or continuous heavy-load muddy conditions, the durability and performance of rubber blocks may be inferior to those of pure steel tracks. High temperatures can cause rubber to soften and accelerate wear, and sharp objects may scratch or puncture the rubber.
5. Weight: Slightly increased weight.
6. Heat Dissipation: The rubber covering may affect heat dissipation in the track pin and bushing area (although the impact is usually minimal).
Summary:
The steel track undercarriage with rubber pads is a product of the combination of engineering design and practical needs. It successfully strikes an excellent balance between the off-road capability, traction stability of tracked equipment and the road-friendliness, low noise and high comfort of wheeled equipment. It has a wide range of applications, especially suitable for mobile mechanical equipment that operates in environments spanning both off-road/unpaved ground and urban/paved roads. When the equipment needs to maintain strong operational capacity and passability while protecting public or private infrastructure (roads), this composite track structure is usually the ideal choice.