Advantages of all-season versus snow tyres for off-road traction and soil stresses

Tractive performance, as well as soil stresses under a vehicle equipped with two types of tyres, was investigated in this study. All-season and snow tyres were installed in a 14 T 6 × 6 military truck and the vehicle was driven over sandy and loess soil for drawbar pull tests. Simultaneously, the stress state was determined in the ground surface under the driving wheels. Effects of tread pattern on both traction curves and soil stress were analyzed for three different levels of vehicle loading. All-season tyres provide slightly better traction for both terrain surfaces, at all three loading levels, or the differences between traction measures are not significant. Soil stress analysis showed that the difference between the two tread patterns is not significant. Generally, on soft surfaces all-season tyres performed no worse than snow tyres, while they are pronouncedly better for highway use.