why does an army tank weighing more than 1000 tonne rests upon a continous chain?

Question

hint : i think it has got something to do with pressure and area.area is inversely proportional to pressure

Answer 1

It may be too far out of proportion. The tanks are highly mobile vehicles which can run off-road and hence should apply a pressure on the roads much less than does a typical automobile tire.

None of the tanks in the world exceeded 70 tonnes and none exceeded 20 psi road-contact pressure. I believe the current heaviest are U.S. M103, 57 tonnes; UK FV214, 66 tonnes; and USSR T4, 57 tonnes.

By the way, the heaviest chain crawler on earth is probably the 4 pairs that carry one of the U.S. Space Shuttles to a launch pad. With over 2000 tonnes of load, the 4 pairs of chains run at max 1.6 Km/h on a well packed road surface but with a very thick layer of loose small rocks.

Answer 2

Tank Weighing

Answer 3

If the weight of the body is more the force given by it also will be more.To distribute this pressure on the ground, a continious chain is connected is a army tank.(law:-If the area of contact increases the pressure decreases.)

Answer 4

Pressure=force/area. Because of the tanks mass, its weight is a large amount. By putting it on a continous chain, the weight is more spread out, decreasing the pressure exerted on the ground.

Answer 5

good observation. but the belt is not so continuous. It is made of many bracket like structures, which are looped into each other to form a continuous belt.any ways.
this structure has particular characteristics, like it enables the tank to carry huge loads, it can move on slipperiest ways, it helps especially when tank has to make it's way out of the dunes.

Answer 6

Pressure=force/area.So when area increases, pressure decreases.Caterpillar tyres are broad enough to withstand pressure so the tank won't sink in the ground.

Answer 7

yes.

the weight is dispersed more or less evenly across the entire tread, leaving it more like a huge foot, rather than a small point (vehicle wheel) that might put a hole in sand and keep it from moving.

Just like snow shoes look like tennis rackets, tread is the "snow shoe" for the heavy tanks. You wouldn't want stilts to travel in snow!

Answer 8

so that the tank can move, weight is distributed upon a greater area than if it were to use plain wheels which would cause it to sink into the ground under its own weight.

Answer 9

pressure is inversly proportional to area so more area less pressre

Answer 10

for it should travel irrespective of the terrain