New axles from Xtrac improve mobility of military vehicles
Xtrac, the transmission technology specialist, has developed high performance front and rear axles designed to further improve the mobility of all-terrain high mobility four-wheel drive vehicles operated by military customers worldwide, including the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). Xtrac was able to apply its considerable motorsport expertise to this military vehicle project; the company is a long-established supplier of gearboxes for Dakar rally-raid vehicles competing in arguably the world’s toughest off-road endurance event requiring characteristics similar to military vehicles.
The new axle units are making their debut at the DVD2010 exhibition, theUK’s first major defence equipment show following the general election. Held on 23-24 June at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, the show is organised by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), which is the part of the MoD responsible for equipping the UK's armed forces for current and future operations.
Milspec, a company associated with the high mobility vehicle specialist and MoD contractor Specialist Mobility Training (SMT), has worked with Xtrac and the vehicle design authority to develop the front and rear axles for a potential ‘mobility uplift’ programme. Designated ‘Milspec 1002’ in Xtrac parlance, the axles can be seen on the SMT stand at the exhibition.
The new axles have been designed and packaged to be fully compatible with an existing vehicle platform. Test vehicles equipped with the new axles have successfully completed extensive trials, run over thousands of miles with extremely demanding test regimes, all completed without failure. Xtrac’s technical capabilities for this project were underpinned by its intensive research programme – particularly in the development of new steels, manufacturing processes, simulation and rig testing.
As well as its fundamental design skills, Xtrac has applied its expertise in analysis, metallurgy, heat treatment and high precision manufacturing to produce axles capable of withstanding extreme off-road conditions, while enhancing vehicle mobility over the roughest terrain. Detailed finite element analysis combined with a deep understanding of state-of-the-art transmission technology has helped to minimise stresses throughout each axle, enhancing durability and improving reliability.
Each axle employs a speed sensitive locking differential, which is less aggressive for this application than the normal torque sensitive configuration and is better able to deal with the sudden shock loads that can rapidly decrease reliability. The differentials are passive and lock automatically without intervention of the driver, which makes it easier to maintain control of the vehicle, even by the youngest and least experienced army recruits, thus potentially reducing the training burden.
In designing the new axles, Xtrac was able to apply its longstanding experience of supplying driveline components able to handle the prodigious levels of power and torque produced by off-road rally-raid vehicles. It helped Volkswagen this year win the legendary 14-day Dakar Rally with a 1-2-3 victory in what is generally considered to be one of the toughest challenges in motorsport. With reliability the key to success, the Race Touareg sports utility vehicles proved to be the fastest and most robust over the toughest sections of the rally, now staged in South America. Xtrac has long been associated with this event. When the company was formed in 1984, some of its earliest projects included four-wheel drive transmission systems for the original Paris Dakar rally, whose harsh off-road environments over some of the world’s most hostile terrain have long tested the durability of vehicles to their absolute limit.
“For many motorsport series - and the Dakar Rally is a good example - the start point is often the standard road car which is transformed into a high performance vehicle by upgrading significant component parts such as the engine, transmission, body shell, cooling, suspension and brakes,” says Xtrac chief engineer Martin Halley. “You can apply the same philosophy to military vehicles – if you need to enhance the performance for a particular field of operation then you can similarly upgrade mission critical components with the latest technology.”
A longstanding advocate and now co-sponsor of the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) motorsport-to-defence initiative, Xtrac will be strongly supporting the MIA’s presence at the DVD2010 show. Peter Digby managing director of Xtrac is a recent past chairman of the MIA and Lord Astor of Hever, another strong supporter of the technology transfer initiative and a parliamentary under secretary of state in the coalition government’s ministerial defence team, is honorary president of the MIA.
Another leading advocate for the MIA motorsport-to-defence initiative, Col. NHC Wills OBE, team leader of the Protected Mobility Team, Defence Equipment and Support, has commented on the MIA website that: “we can get some really good wins from the motorsport-to-defence initiative... as we will have cutting edge technology to solve problems that we would not have had otherwise."
In addition to the motorsport industry’s technology pedigree another major attraction to the defence sector is the fast turnaround achieved by motorsport companies operating in a highly competitive environment, where deadlines often extend no further than from one race weekend to the next. The motorsport-to-defence initiative has already resulted in numerous successful transfers of technology between the two industries and there is mounting evidence that the relationship continues to strengthen.
Established for 26 years, Xtrac is a world leader in the design and manufacture of gearboxes, differentials and driveline components, which are used throughout motorsport and in particular within F1, IndyCar, Touring Car, Rallying, Rally Raid, Grand-Am and many forms of sportscar racing including a major involvement in the Le Mans 24 hours (where the company enjoyed a 1-2-3 finish this year with Audi), Daytona 24 hour and Sebring 12 hour races. Now applying its skills to applications outside of motorsport, the UK transmission specialist has seen rapid growth in the defence and marine sectors. Further information on Xtrac is available at xtrac.com.
