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The Milwaukee and Cincinnati Sections of the Society of Automotive Engineers are commended for creating the Recreational Ecological Vehicle competitions. The Society should become more involved with relevant projects by encouraging its membership to establish and support similar events. The Industrial Design Dept. at Arizona State Univ. considers projects of this type sufficiently important to adopt them as the basis for a two semester classroom Design Project. For REV 74, this resulted in the design and construction of an ATV that had a six wheel hydrostatic drive, independent suspension, fore and aft combined steering, and a water propulsion system.

The Scout vehicle program for the U. S. Army is performance oriented. The government has specified performance requirements only, and the successful contractor is responsible for designing a vehicle to meet them. The Scout system performance requirements fall into four primary areas-mobility, reconnaissance, firepower, and protection. The Scout program has been structured to take advantage of competitive prototyping.

Armoured tracked vehicle is a complex weapon platform. It accommodates weapon system, gun control systems, fire control systems for accurate firing, high-density powerpack, Automatic transmission system, hydro pneumatic suspension for better mobility and crew comfort at different type of terrain. Designing of the systems & subsystems and packaging them in the limited space available in the vehicle considering the ergonomics, maintainability and accessibility aspects is a mammoth task. The Design of the Armour systems for structural and ballistic (protection) application is very critical where the actual experiment is highly time consuming and expensive. Modeling, simulation and impact analysis tools substantially facilitate the developmental work on Armoured tracked vehicle. This paper outlines how modeling, impact analysis and virtual reality tools are employed for the development of Armoured vehicles.

The Army's aircraft development efforts are directed toward six major systems. The principal thrust is in the vertical and short takeoff and landing concepts, ranging from low to moderate disc loading. The six major aircraft systems are: light observation, surveillance and target acquisition, advanced aerial fire support, utility tactical transport, light tactical transport, and heavy lift. Coupled with these efforts, the Army conducts a number of exploratory and advanced development projects not specifically directed toward any individual system, but which will result in improved small turbine engines, reduction of aircraft vulnerability, noise and vibration abatement, improved controllability, reduction of power train weight, and increased armament effectiveness.

Previous research by the U.S. Army defined requirements For heavy-duty diesel engine lubricants for military equipment deployed in arctic regions. These products have provided excellent performance for nearly 20 years-first as a purchase description in 1969, and fielded under specification MIL-L-46167 since 1974. Although this specification provides for use of mineral base or synthetic base oils, the performance requirements are such that only synthetic base lubricants (nominal 6 cSt) have been qualified.

Army aviation is vulnerable to in-flight and pre-flight icing because of the nature of its operations, flying primarily slow rotorcraft at low altitudes from non-traditional airfields with limited facilities. Icing causes mission delays during ground deicing of aircraft, and mission cancellations and aborted flights occur because of forecast or actual in-flight icing. CRREL, in coordination with the Army Aviation Directorate of Combat Developments, surveyed 35 aviation commands worldwide, and analyzed Army Safety Center accident and incident records. This paper presents the results, which identify and quantify the effect of icing on Army aviation. The severity of icing's impact on mission accomplishment is largely a function of aircraft type flown, location, mission, and airfield facilities.

The US Army's Aviation Training Research and Development Program is discussed in this paper. An overview of the research program concept is presented, with special emphasis on the behavioral research required to enhance aircrew performance. The overview is followed by discussions of representative research in the areas of tactical flight training, flight simulation, and aviator selection and assignment. The discussions emphasize the user orientation of the research and development and project the advanced techniques and trends in training and equipment.

A program to evaluate silicone brake fluids for use in military vehicles operating in various climatic conditions was begun in 1967. After 6 years of laboratory testing and numerous improvements in the characteristics of these fluids, a vehicle field test was initiated in the spring of 1973. Three candidate silicone fluids were selected and installed in M151 1/4-ton cargo vehicles, and M-715 1-1/4-ton vehicles operating at the Tropical Test Center (TTC), Panama Canal Zone, the Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), Arizona, and the Arctic Test Center (ATC), Fort Greeley, Alaska. Brake parts were inspected after 1 year of operation, and all parts were removed and inspected after 2 years of operation. After 2 years of service at TTC and YPG, the two water intolerant silicone fluids were significantly better than the water tolerant silicone fluid and the conventional VV-B-680 fluid.

A three-phase program was conducted by the Army in order to obtain basic data required for the development of a new arctic engine oil (OEA) specification to replace the obsolete MIL-L-10295 sub-zero engine oil specification (OES). The first phase of the program involved the development and initial testing of improved arctic engine oils formulated using synthetic hydrocarbon or ester base stock materials. The second phase of the program involved field-testing of the improved oils, and the third phase covered definition of the performance requirements necessary for the new specification, MIL-L-46167 (OEA). This paper covers the initial testing, development of the improved arctic engine oils, discussion relating to mixed fleet military field test experience with the new lubricants, and laboratory testing of these new oils in standard oil test engines as well as in a specific military high-output diesel engine.

Various means have been investigated for reducing fuel fire vulnerability of Army combat vehicles by altering fuel compositions. Extensive laboratory studies have yielded clear-to-hazy fire-resistant fuel microemulsions of water in surfactant-stabilized diesel fuel, with and without an antimist agent. The surfactant is a mixture of reaction products of diethanolamine and oleic acid. Flammability and ballistic tests reveal diminished mist flammability with self-extinguishing pool fires, even at temperatures above the base fuel flash point. No difficulties have been encountered in starting, idling, and running unmodified diesel engines on such fuels under typical operating conditions.

A management program instituted by the Army Missile Command to focus appropriate attention on missile system corrosion control and to insure adequate contractor action is detailed. Using results of environmental tests of the Pershing missile system as an example, the authors conclude that such a program is effective. Some areas for further effort in the field of prevention of deterioration are indicated.

This paper addresses the U.S. Army's latest developed utility helicopter with a contract recently awarded to Sikorsky Aircraft for the Utility Tactical Aircraft System (UTTAS) recently designated “BLACK HAWK” and consists primarily of excerpts from (1)*. A brief history into the background of the Army's requirements and need for a UTTAS, history of development, general description with intended missions, planned activities and significant capabilities is provided. It will be shown that concentrated efforts on reliability and maintainability characteristics which, when combined with stringent performance and survivability requirements provide an aircraft which enhanced operational capabilities on the modern day battlefield.

The U.S. Army has long identified the need for rapid, reliable methods for analysis of fuels and lubricants on or near the battlefield. The analysis of fuels and lubricants under battlefield or near-battlefield conditions requires that the equipment be small, portable, rugged, quick, and easy to use. Over the past 15 to 20 years, several test kits and portable laboratories have been developed in response to this need. One instrumental technique that has been identified as a likely candidate to meet this need is near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR). To evaluate NIR as a candidate, a set of 280 fuel samples was used. This sample set contained samples of diesel fuel grades 1 and 2, Jet A-l, JP-5, and JP-8. Inspection data were collected on all the fuels as sample size permitted. Each sample was then scanned using a near-infrared spectrometer. Data analysis, model building, and calibration were conducted using a software package supplied with the instrument.

Two recent events have occurred that alter the Army view of acceptance of earthmoving equipment. First, the Army was reorganized and second, a new materiel acquisition policy was published. The reorganization eliminated Continental Army Command and U.S. Army Combat Developments Command and formed Forces Command and Training and Doctrine Command. In addition, U.S. Army Materiel Command was reoriented and the responsibility for construction equipment shifted to U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Command. The new materiel acquisition policy's main points seek to minimize cost, shorten development, and assure adequate performance. To accomplish this, a 6-year development cycle was established with decision points following each phase of developmental testing and operational test. Since earthmoving equipment is considered a nonmajor item, the Test and Evaluation Command (TECOM), as part of the development test (DT III), will complete the Army's acceptance tests.

The M880 Series 1¼ Ton Commercial Truck System is the U.S. Army's first large scale project to selectively replace existing militarily designed tactical vehicles with commercial vehicles. This program was initiated under the guidance of the U.S. Army's Wheels Study (1971) which was a comprehensive analysis of the Army's management and utilization of wheeled vehicles and related equipment. To date, over 15,000 commercial 1¼ ton vehicles have been fielded worldwide to active army and foreign military sales customers with an additional 28,000 vehicles to be fielded during the remainder of 1977. The M880's are experiencing a high degree of acceptance by the using personnel.

The purpose of the paper is to provide information regarding the techniques employed in accomplishing the task of achieving adequate design and performance specifications of the Army's new hinged-frame, rubber-tired tractor and companion 18 cu yd hydraulic operated scraper. This paper discusses the mission, performance and design requirements, and field experience and explains the procedures followed in preparation of the specifications, including evaluating performance of standard commercial equipment, component selection and evaluation, verification of performance requirements, and test procedures. The requirements emphasize the need for versatility, mobility, reliability, and maintainability of such military equipment.

The Army hopes a new streamlined development and procurement process will facilitate aid from the automotive sector to design the next generation of combat vehicles.

In order to examine the effect of aromatic addition to Fischer-Tropsch Diesel (FTD) fuel on formation and oxidation processes of soot particles in diesel spray flame, small amount of naphthalene (0 to 65,000 ppm) was added to the FTD fuel and variation of soot morphology and nanostructure of primary soot particles directly sampled in a diesel spray flame were investigated via High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). A single-shot diesel spray flame was achieved in a constant volume combustion chamber under a diesel-like condition (Ta=1000K, Pa=2.7MPa) and a grid for HRTEM observation was directly exposed to the spray flame to thermophoretically sample soot particles onto the grid surface. The primary particle diameter, aggregate gyration radius, lattice fringe length, lattice fringe tortuosity and lattice fringe separation of soot particles sampled at different locations (from 60 to 90mm from nozzle tip) in the spray flame were analyzed.

A round robin study to measure the aromatic levels in diesel fuels was conducted by the Chemical Characterization Panel of the Coordinating Research Council Air Pollution Research. Advisory Committee (CRC-APRAC) In-house Program Group, CAPI-1-64. The fuels for this study consisted of a jet fuel, a No. 2 diesel reference fuel, and three fuels used in a CRC-sponsored diesel emission project (CAPE-32) These fuels had 90% distillation temperatures which ranged from 472° to 642° F and aromaticity levels from approximately 18 to 55% by volume. All participants used the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D1319 or modified D1319 methods to measure the aromatic levels in the selected fuels. Some participants concurrently analyzed the same fuels using other methods such as high-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry, and elution chromatography (ASTM D2549).

With the development of cellular communication technology and for the sake of reducing drag resistance, the multi-lane platoon technology will be more prosperous in the future. In this article, the cooperative vehicle platoon method on the public road is represented. The method’s architecture is mainly composed of the following parts: decision-making, path planning and control command generation. The decision-making uses the finite state machine to make decision and judgment on the cooperative lane change of vehicles, and starts to execute the lane change step when the lane change requirements are met. In terms of path planning, with the goal of ensuring comfort, the continuity of the vehicle state and no collision between vehicles, a fifth-order polynomial is used to fit every vehicle trajectory. In terms of control command generation module, a model predictive control algorithm is used to solve the multi-vehicle centralized optimization control problem.