Exhaust Impingement Effects Predictive Capability for Future Combat Systems (FCS) and the 21st Century Truck

The survivability of Army vehicles depends upon proper thermal management. The control of exhaust gases is critical to thermal management, particularly for lightweight vehicles, such as Future Combat Systems (FCS), whose survivability relies on signaturecontrol. If not managed skillfully, exhaust gases can be a large signature cue - leading to the detection and targeting of assets. Equally disastrous to vehicle survivability is the impingement of exhaust on vehicle parts and on surrounding terrain.Materials exposed to exhaust gas impingement will heat up, thus becoming signature cues. Exhaust impingement is also a safety hazard for military/commercial applications, affecting both crew well-being and vehicle integrity. Another safety concern is thedanger resulting from an exhaust system leak. A predictive tool, suited for design and rapid prototyping applications, is needed to address these concerns. Currently, no such tool exists. ThermoAnalytics proposes to build upon the RadTherm thermal analysiscode, currently in use at Ford, GM, and DaimlerChrysler, and part of the Army's Multi Services Electro-optics Signature (MuSES) suite, to create an exhaust impingement prediction tool. The tool will provide feedback during vehicle design as well as producerealistic images of the vehicle embedded in natural environments for sensor simulation of prototype vehicle designs.1. Signature management - Exhaust impingement on vehicle parts and terrain can be a significant cue for threat sensors. Predicting theperformance of exhaust systems during the design process can dramatically reduce the signature and survivability of Army systems. 2. Thermal management - Impingement of the exhaust on vehicle parts can greatly increase the thermal load and stress that avehicle will be subjected to. Crew health and alertness may also be impacted. Addressing the impingement issue is best done during the design process. 3. Safety - Exhaust system leaks can lead to catastrophic failure of the vehicle. This design tool wouldallow safety engineers to analyze the effect of exhaust leaks. 4. Impingement mitigation - The exhaust from vehicles - both ground and air - as well as from APUs can be directed downward. Impingement of hot exhaust gases can destroy concrete and meltasphalt. With this tool, these impingement effects can be anticipated resulting in a proactive design. 5. Sensor and detector simulation - This tool allows the generation of realistic imagery of the vehicle embedded and interacting with the environment.Such imagery is vital for detection, targeting, and survivability assessment of Army designs.