An Analytical Model for Predicting Cross-Country Vehicle Performance. Appendix C: Vehicle Performance in Vertical Obstacles (Surface Geometry)

The appendix presents a brief history of vehicle dynamics modeling, a recapitulation of the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station approach to the problem of predicting vehicle performance in terrain containing discrete vertical obstacles, and descriptions of dynamic response prediction models for the M60A1 tank and M37 truck, and compares measured and predicted vehicle performance in terms of peak vertical and longitudinal accelerations for 78 rigid obstacle tests with the two vehicles. Major conclusions from the tests were that performances of the M60A1 tank and M37 truck in terms of peak vertical and peak longitudinal accelerations experienced at the driver's seat when traversing discrete, rigid obstacles can be correlated with impact speed, that the mathematical techniques described yield reasonably accurate predictions of the speed at which the M60A1 tank can contact a rigid obstacle without exceeding specified tolerance limits, and that refinement is needed in the dynamic response prediction model for the M37 truck. Sponsored in part by the DARPA.