Application of Lightweighting Technology to Military Aircraft, Vessels, and Vehicles (2012) / Chapter Skim
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6 Findings and Recommendations
6 Findings and Recommendations
Pages 128-136
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From page 128... ...
In the committee's view, lightweighting should be a means not only of reaping the benefits of improved fuel economy but also of achieving an improved vehicle. The goals of lightweighting can include better performance, in areas such as vehicle speed, maneuverability, payload capacity, and range; easier and less costly operational supportability, encompassing fuel consumption as well as transportability, durability, reliability, maintainability, and repairability; and improved survivability, in forms such as resistance to blast and ballistic threats, tolerance 1 Althoughthis definition also applies to civilian vehicles, the main focus of this report is military vehicles, and so the attributes of interest and the wording used are tailored for military applications.
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From page 129... ...
The connections between the three national concerns outlined above and these five recommendations are shown in Figure 6-1. 6.2 DIGITAL DESIGN TOOLS FOR SYSTEMS ENGINEERING Finding 1: One consequence of lengthy acquisition processes is that changes in threats and operational requirements in areas of conflict can outpace the development of new military vehicles and vehicle tech nologies.
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From page 130... ...
3 During the course of this study, the Obama Administration announced the new Materials Genome Initiative, which addresses many of these needs.
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From page 131... ...
, a strategy that extends from materials design through structural design in an integrated fashion, thereby including the ability to design new materials as part of achieving optimal structural performance. In the committee's judgment, ICME tools and methods offer the greatest opportunity to accelerate the development and validation of new materials and processes for lightweighting, which would bring the current lengthy development cycle for these new materials and processes more into line with the generally much shorter design cycles for vehicles and products.
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From page 132... ...
To accelerate development and broaden the research base required for development of ICME tools, the committee recommends that the definition of DoD basic research be broadened to include development of the fundamental building blocks of ICME and materials design, as distinct from materials discovery. The DoD and industry have invested in materials model development for many years, and several programs have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of developing and integrating selected materials, processing, and microstructure-property models with an overall benefit to component design and development for the selected cases.6 What has not yet occurred is the broad, systematic development and implementation of ICME across industry and government.
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From page 133... ...
programs have, in numerous instances, proven to be suc cessful in introducing breakthrough technologies into DoD platforms. In contrast to the rigorous risk-reduction approaches taken for major engineering system development and certification, which require that new technologies be relatively mature at the time that critical system architecture decisions are made, ATDs allow for more aggressive pursuit of higher-risk, higher-payoff technologies with sig nificantly reduced requirements for testing, validation, and certification.
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From page 134... ...
Recommendation 4b:10 In concert with other government agencies, the DoD should explore the merits and requirements of parallel commercial markets that could reduce the development and acquisition costs of military vehicles as well as accelerate the availability and use of lightweighting materials and technologies. 6.5 A STRATEGIC VISION FOR MATERIALS CRITICAL TO LIGHTWEIGHTING Finding 5: The committee believes that there remains insufficient high-level DoD awareness of and strategic vision for ensuring sustained domestic supplies of materials that are essential to the realization of effective light weighting and would facilitate revolutionary advances in military systems.
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From page 135... ...
establishes the resources to ensure continuous development of these materials and their associated manufacturing processes. As part of this holistic approach, the existing Title III program should be expanded to include a larger number of materials critical to lightweighting of military aircraft, vessels, and vehicles.
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From page 136... ...
6.6 CONCLUSION In assessing the status of lightweighting in air, sea, and land vehicles, the committee found that there are good examples of lightweighting implementation in military vehicles. However, many opportunities still exist to take fuller advantage of this strategy.
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