Armoured engineering vehicles are a class of vehicles that cater to the engineering needs such as repair, recovery, technical maintenance, clearing obstacles etc. in field conditions for Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) during times of combat. In addition to the above needs, such vehicles are also supposed to carry sufficient spares including a spare powerpack that includes an engine cum transmission for MBTs as a piggyback during field replacement. Such requirements entail challenges in the design as locating such a powerpack on the vehicle impose additional structural strengthening and stability concerns during both static and dynamic conditions without obviating the need to carry vehicle spares and weight constraints.
This paper tries to address these design challenges through a case study, wherein a cover plate that is supposed to seal the powerpack compartment from dust and water ingress is converted to a cover plate cum loading platform. The complete design and iteration methodology are first explained in detail along with constraints. Subsequently, this design is verified through a finite element analysis study that includes static structural, modal, random vibration, harmonic and shock response spectrum analysis. Based on these results, the above cover plate was developed and assembled on a prototype engineering vehicle and subjected to field validation at various conditions. Finally, it is observed that by careful design and analysis a cover plate cum loading platform is designed for a combat engineering vehicle within a weight envelop of one tonne that withstood the rigors of usability and terrain, without compromising on requirements and structural integrity.
