Improving Military Ground Vehicle Fuel Efficiency through the Identification of More Fuel Efficient Gear Oils (FEGOs) – Development of a Stationary Axle Efficiency Test Stand and Test Procedure

For existing vehicle fleets there are few ways to reduce fuel consumption that do not involve expensive retrofitting. Replacing standard lubricants with those that achieve greater efficiency through superior formulation is one practical and inexpensive way to reduce fleet fuel consumption. In an effort to identify axle lubricants that reduce fuel consumption, the U.S. Army has developed a stationary axle efficiency test stand and test procedure using data from vehicle testing and simulation. Test method developmental work was initiated using hardware representative of light and medium tactical vehicles. Results indicate that the stationary test stand can differentiate and map efficiency changes between lubricants. The test stand has been used to test fuel efficient axle lubricants, which proved to be in good agreement with prior vehicle testing. Stationary testing has been shown to offer a higher degree of accuracy than full-scale vehicle testing at lower cost.