MONOCOQUE ALUMINUM STRUCTURE DESIGN FOR LIGHT TACTICAL VEHICLE WITH EMPHASIS ON DEFEATING UNDER BODY BLAST EVENT AND IMPROVING CREW SURVIVABILITY

In order to defeat under body blast events and improve crew survivability, a monocoque aluminum cab structure has been designed as a drop on solution based on the current M1151A1 (HMMWV) chassis. The structure is comprised of all 5083-H131 Aluminum alloy armor plates with various thicknesses. The structure design consists of the following new features: (1) Robust joining design utilizing interlocking ballistic joints and mechanical interlocking features, (2) unique B-pillar gusset design connects roof & floor with B-pillar & tunnel, and (3) “Double V” underbody shaping design. The TARDEC designed, integrated & built vehicle achieved no crew core body injuries for a vehicle of this weight class and demonstrated meeting the crew survivability objective when subjected to a 2X blast during the live fire underbody blast tests. These efforts help to not only baseline light tactical vehicle capabilities, but also validate the possibility of meeting aggressive blast objectives for light tactical vehicles. These results provide government-owned designs that are scalable and actionable solutions for future HMMWV fleet upgrades.