DAMAGE TOLERANT COMPOSITE STRUCTURES FOR THE U.S. ARMY COUNTEROBSTACLE VEHICLE

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED HEREIN IS TO DETERMINE WHICH MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE U.S. ARMY COUNTEROBSTACLE VEHICLE (COV) CAN BE MANUFACTURED FROM COMPOSITE MATERIALS. THE APPROACH TAKEN IN THE PHASE I FEASIBILITY RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP ONE OR MORE ACCEPTABLE DESIGNS FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMPONENTS, PERFORM PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND ANALYSIS, AND PREPARE TECHNICAL DRAWINGS FOR EVALUATION BY THE U.S. ARMY. THE INITIAL DESIGN CONSTRAINTS/REQUIREMENTS PLACED ON ANY POTENTIAL COMPOSITE REPLACEMENT COMPONENT, IN THEIR APPROXIMATE ORDER OF IMPORTANCE, ARE AS FOLLOWS: DAMAGE TOLERANCE, REPAIRABILILTY, WEIGHT REDUCTION, STIFFNESS, STRENGTH, AND COST. A SATISFACTORY DESIGN MUST BE ABLE TO MEET OR EXCEED CERTAIN SPECIFICATIONS IN EACH OF THESE AREAS TO BE CONSIDERED A VIABLE CANDIDATE FOR FURTHER PHASE II PROTOTYPE MANUFACTURE, TEST, AND EVALUATION. THE FINAL RESULT OF PHASE I WORK WILL BE THE CREATION OF TECHNICAL DRAWINGS FOR SEVERAL COMPONENTS OF THE COV THAT ARE TO BE MADE FROM COMPOSITE MATERIALS.