Progress in British Tracked Vehicle Suspension Systems

The higher power/weight ratios of modern tracked armoured vehicles has increased potential cross-country speed and placed greater demands on vehicle suspension systems. This has led to advances in component hardware and techniques for predicting and measuring suspension performance. The paper describes the use of computer modelling for comparing the effects of different suspension characteristics and the use of concrete profiles including a ‘random’ profile course for measuring performance and validating models. Two modern tracked vehicle suspension systems are described -one torsion bar/rotary damper and the other hydrogas. Research work in progress on active suspensions and electronically controlled damping systems is also described.