MITIGATION OF OCCUPANT ACCELERATION IN A MINE-RESISTANT AMBUSH-PROTECTED VEHICLE BLAST EVENT USING AN OPTIMIZED DUAL-HULL APPROACH

With US military casualties mounting due to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and other roadside bombs, improving the protective capabilities of armored vehicles for service personnel is of paramount importance. Accurate numerical simulations of the blast event provide a means to quickly and economically evaluate the blast-protection performance of armored vehicles, and to develop improved blast countermeasures. This effort developed computational simulations of a system intended to mitigate blast accelerations to a level where the acceleration is no longer a lethal threat to the occupants of an armored vehicle. The hypothesis is that through the manipulation of the mass ratio, stiffness and damping properties of a dual-hull system, the capability of current Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles can be greatly improved. The results show that, in comparison to the standard single-hull vehicle, the dual-hull vehicle reduces head injury criteria by 95.7%, neck compression by 78.3%, chest acceleration by 97.5% and leg forces by an average of 97%. Further work should focus on developing a realistic structural interface between the hulls and evaluating it using simulation, followed by fabrication and testing of limited test articles and full-vehicle systems.