The effect of up-armoring of the high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) on the off-road vehicle performance

摘要

Purpose - A parallel finite-element/multi-body-dynamics investigation is carried out of the effect ofrnup-armoring on the off-road performance of a prototypical high-mobility multipurpose-wheeledrnvehicle (HMMWV). The paper seeks to investigate the up-armoring effect on the vehicle performancernunder the following off-road maneuvers: straight-line flatland braking; straight-line off-angle downhillrnbraking; and sharp left turn.rnDesign/methodology/approach - For each of the above-mentioned maneuvers, the appropriaternvehicle-performance criteria are identified and the parameters used to quantify these criteria arerndefined and assessed. The ability of a computationally efficient multi-body dynamics approach whenrncombined with a detailed model for tire/soil interactions to yield results qualitatively andrnquantitatively consistent with their computational counterparts obtained using computationally quiterncostly finite element analyses is assessed.rnFindings - The computational results obtained clearly reveal the compromises in vehicle off-roadrnperformance caused by the up-armoring employ to improve vehicle blast and ballistic protectionrnperformance/survivability. The results obtained are also analyzed and explained in terms of generalrnfield-test observations in order to judge physical soundness and fidelity of the present computationalrnapproaches.rnOriginality/value - The paper offers insights into the effects of up-armoring of the HMMWV onrnoff-road vehicle performance.