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https://hdl.handle.net/11681/29253| Title: | Event DICE THROW Mobility Experiments |
| Authors: | Green, Charles E. Mobility and Environmental Systems Laboratory (U.S.) |
| Keywords: | Vehicles, Military Obstacles (Military science) Ammonium nitrate fuel oil Migration, Internal |
| Publisher: | U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. |
| Series/Report no.: | Miscellaneous Paper (U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station);no. M-77-12 |
| Abstract: | Event DICE THROW, a 2.5- terajoule (600-ton) charge of ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO), was detonated on 6 October 1976 at the Giant Patriot Site on the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The soil is predominately loose silty sand with random lenses of hard silty clay. Field tests were conducted to determine the degree to which the crater and its 'associated ejecta field constituted a physical barrier to the movement of military vehicles. Four terrain units in the crater and ejecta area were delineated as significant to ground mobility and described in terms of soil strength, soil moisture content, surface configuration, ejecta depth, and areal extent. The test vehicles, i.e., an M60A1 tank, an M551 Sheridan tank, an M577A1 command post carrier, an M109 self-propelled howitzer, an M35A2C 2-1/2-ton cargo truck, and an M715 1-1/4-ton cargo truck, could operate with ease in all the terrain units except the crater wall. The crater wall was too steep for the vehicles to make a safe entry into the crater; therefore, a D7F bulldozer was used for 10 minutes to make an entrance lane into the crater. By entering the crater by way of the entrance lane the M577A1 and the M109 were able to exit the crater by way of the crater wall. The M60A1 was not tested on the crater wall due to the mechanical condition of its track system. No engineering effort (bulldozing) was done to ensure passage of all the test vehicles across the crater due to the short time the test vehicles were available and the unavailability of a bulldozer operator. The total time required by a D7F bulldozer to make the crater passable for all the test vehicles, except the M109 and M577A1, was estimated to be 20 minutes. Degradation in terms of drawbar-pull coefficient and speed increased for all the vehicles tested in each terrain unit from the original surface to ground zero (GZ). The degraded area per gigajoule (0.24 ton) of explosive was 0.73 m2 (7.85 ft2), which indicates that large-scale surface explosives in this type of material (silty sand) are not an efficient means of creating barriers to military vehicles. The effective no-go width for the crater was 48 metres (160 ft). Comparison of measured values and values predicted by AMM-74X (Army Mobility Model) for four vehicle performance parameters revealed that the overall accuracy of the predictions for go-no go, drawbar pull, motion resistance, and speed was acceptable in every case. |
| Description: | Miscellaneous Paper |
| Gov't Doc #: | Miscellaneous Paper M-77-12 |
| Rights: | Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11681/29253 |
| Size: | 60 pages / 7.927Mb |
| Types of Materials: | PDF/A |
| Appears in Collections: | Miscellaneous Paper |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous Paper M-77-12.pdf | 8.12 MB | Adobe PDF |  View/Open |