Non-circular wheels are employed in special duty vehicles or robots so as ensure proper trafficability. This article attempts to study the vertical vibration of a vehicle equipped with wheels of an irregular outer contour. Considering material property of the wrapping layer on the wheel, we approximate the non-circular wheel by a series of isosceles triangles connected by transition arcs. Location variation of the wheel center in the vertical direction is then derived during wheel rotation. With the wheel center motion as an extra excitation, the dynamic model about the vertical vibration of a vehicle equipped with the non-circular wheels is established based on the typical quarter-vehicle. Numerical simulations are conducted in Matlab for the vertical vibration performance of the vehicle. Results show that extra vibration occurs to the vehicle due to the non-circular wheel. The vibration frequency of the extra vehicle vibration is determined by the wheel contour and vehicle speed besides vehicle mass, suspension parameters and the road profile.

Non-circular wheels,Center of mass movement,Vertical vibration