Predicting the Performance of Fast Cross Country Vehicles,
Abstract
This paper describes the practical application of ISTVS work to help the user describe to the designer the requirements of his vehicle, and to help them both assess what performance can be expected from that vehicle over various types of terrain. In the past, statements of requirements have necessarily been loosely worded for lack of any agreed criteria for defining the characteristics of the vehicle. Sometimes this has led to the designer misinterpreting the user requirement. If this is then compounded by a lack of opportunity to run prototypes on realistic trials, a potentially unsatisfactory vehicle may come into service, and shortcomings only become apparent later with perhaps disastrous, or at least expensive results. The criteria and assessments methods to be described have applications to any cross-country vehicle where speed is relatively high, but their development has been primarily for use in designing Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs). For AFVs there are a wide range of options for mobility standards. These arise from differing priorities for mobility in relation to the payloads of firepower, protection and crew. Military vehicles are usually stretching technology. To save development time and the expense of test vehicles, it is usually necessary to make major decisions on some characteristics from paper studies at the design stage. Even when test vehicles are available, the test areas likely to be available in peacetime are of soil and topography very different from likely battlefields, and performance is often misleading.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADP004381
Entities
People
- J. C. Larminie