A Hybrid Approach to Tactical Vehicles
Abstract
Combat operations are suffering from unnecessarily high fuel demand which degrades capability, exposes support operations to greater risk than necessary, and increases operations and support costs. This thesis describes the current suite of hybrid drivetrain technologies, evaluates their effectiveness in a tactical environment, and suggests an architecture that reduces fuel consumption while maintaining performance against mobility, transportability, survivability, and safety requirements. This thesis includes a comprehensive analysis of nine power sources and three general hybrid architectures against ten performance attributes using multiple criterion decision theory with considerations for selection criteria dependencies and vehicle duty cycles. The rating of selection criteria is not always a direct comparison of component performance parameters. In some cases, capabilities are dependent on the general hybrid architecture and on the form of energy storage in others. In a fully burden cost of fuel context, the capability of hybrid drivetrains to improve fuel economy of vehicles by up to 20% translates to $0.39-$83.54 billion in annual savings across the Army's tactical wheeled vehicle fleet depending on the fuel delivery method. The recommended hybrid drivetrain architecture is a series hybrid with a diesel engine primary power source, flywheel secondary power source, and permanent magnet traction motors.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA552204
Entities
People
- Mark D. Fingerholz
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School