Survivability of a Propellant Fire Inside a Simulated Military Vehicle Crew Compartment: Part 1 - Baseline Study.

摘要

A number of combat vehicles carry their propelling charges and high explosive filled projectiles inside the crew compartment. Such arrangements give rise to questions about the prospects of crew survival in an unplanned munitions initiation event owing to cohabitation of the crew with an on-board magazine. DSTO has undertaken an experimental study to investigate this concern. A trials structure was developed whereby a a range of propelling charge types and storage configurations were initiated in a simulated military vehicle crew compartment. The trials structure was fitted out with simulated personnel instrumented to enable the threats from the thermal, ejecta and pressure environment created by the propelling charge event to be assessed. The trial results indicated that the thermal and ejecta threats posed the greatest risk to crew survival. The effectiveness of a range of hazard mitigation techniques was also assessed and this is addressed in Part 2 of this report.