Experimental researches of dynamic loads of armoured personnel carrier and its crew during collision with rigid obstacle and all - terrain vehicle

The paper presents problems related to dynamic loads of armoured personnel carriers design as well as soldiers located inside them. During tactical operation, there is often the need for ramming other vehicles or terrain obstacles in order to provide road possibility. The lack in armoured vehicles, commonly used in cars crumple zones, will result in large values of accelerations. This can cause significant risk to the crews of vehicles. In order to assess the exposure of soldiers while overcoming terrain and engineering obstacles experimental studies were performed covering a carrier’s collision with a rigid barrier and ramming of all-terrain vehicle. In the paper the research conditions and used measurement equipment were described. A four-wheel SKOT personnel carrier and Tarpan Honker car, out of service, was used for the tests. The tests were carried out within the area of the Military Institute for Armoured and Automotive Technology in Sulejówek. During crash tests, anthropomorphic measurement equipment – Hybrid III 50th Male Dummy type – was used for recording the values of loads affecting the soldiers. The article presents some results of experimental studies. The values of the carrier’s body accelerations in driver’s and landing troop compartment were compared as well as dynamic loads of test dummies. The results obtained during vehicle ramming prove that these types of actions do not cause serious threats for the members of the carrier crew.