Suppression of Thermal Emission from Exhaust Components Using an Integrated Approach

The majority of the smart weapons that constitute the primary threat to ground combat vehicles incorporate infrared (IR) seekers that use thermal sources as their targeting reference. Therefore, in order to increase the survivability and combateffectiveness of military ground vehicles, it is desirable to reduce the vehicle's thermal emissions. The visual and infrared images in Figure 1 show how the hot engine exhaust outlet on the front right portion of the M-113 creates the most significantinput to the overall IR image. Although a variety of combat vehicle exhaust suppressors have already been developed, this program will put together a systematic, integrated approach for the development of a host of exhaust suppressors for present andfuture vehicles. This program will investigate exhaust suppression virtual design, and exhaust suppression optimization by using and integrating modeling techniques with hot flow testing. Commercial applications could include thermal energy control, heatshielding, exhaust flow analysis, and engine cooling system design. The primary area would be in the automotive field, however, other applications may be found in the fields of transportation, manufacturing and power generation.