Refined Reduced Order Models for Estimation of Terrain Induced Loads in Flexible Vehicles

The new aerospace materials are finding applications in the design of military armor vehicles. However, the effect on ride quality, fire control, and internal structural loads due to the increased flexibility of these new vehicles must be ascertained by dynamic analysis. The size of models required to simulate these flexible body effect can be prohibitive from both cost and time perspective. Therefore, this proposal is directed to the development of a technique for obtaining a refined reduced order model that can accurately predict the response of a vehicle over a frequency range of concern and lends itself to application during the design and structural optimization phase.