A new crew survivability concept that would build military vehicles around a protected personnel compartment and use a sacrificial “blast wedge” to absorb energy from improvised explosive devices could improve safety for the occupants of future light armored patrol vehicles.
Researchers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have designed and tested the concept, dubbed ULTRA II, for the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR). The crew-protection concept builds on an earlier GTRI development for the ONR that evaluated new concepts for light armored vehicles. A blast test conducted with the ULTRA II full-sized crew compartment test article at the Aberdeen Test Center showed that the new concept could protect the vehicle crew from improvised explosions.
“Instead of up-armoring a standard vehicle or modifying an existing drive train, we built a bubble of force protection first and then addressed vehicle mobility,” explained Vince Camp, a GTRI senior research engineer and the project’s principal investigator. “The idea was to emphasize warfighter protection first by starting with design of an improved crew compartment, as opposed to starting with an existing vehicle and trying to add armor.”
The ULTRA II crew compartment was designed to house six persons: a driver and commander facing forward, and two pairs of crew members behind them, each pair facing opposite sides of the vehicle. By putting their backs toward the center of the crew compartment, the concept moves the crew away from the outside walls to reduce the likelihood of injury from side blasts, provides better visibility for the crew to monitor their surroundings, allows blast-resistant seats to be frame-mounted—and facilitates faster egress from the vehicle.
The crew compartment envisioned by GTRI uses a “space frame” constructed of tubular steel—similar to civilian off-road racing vehicles. An armored steel “skin” provides added structure and moderate ballistic and blast protection. Additional armor is bolted onto the frame in a modular way, allowing varying levels of protection that could be easily modified in the field and changed as new high-performance armor concepts are developed.
An integral part of the protection is provided by a sacrificial “blast wedge” bolted onto the bottom of the vehicle. Constructed of welded steel armor, the wedge both deflects energy away from the vehicle and absorbs energy from a blast, performing a function similar to “crumple zones” in modern civilian vehicles.
The design and fabrication of the test article was conducted by personnel in the Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems Laboratory of GTRI. Tests using a heavily-instrumented test article with instrumented dummies simulating the crew showed that the wedge deflected or absorbed nearly 70 percent of the energy from an explosion beneath it. Damage from the blast was primarily confined to the sacrificial blast wedge and there was no structural damage and no blast penetration to the crew compartment.
“Energy used up in crushing and tearing the metal in the blast wedge is energy that wouldn’t go into injuring the crew,” said Kevin Massey, a GTRI senior research engineer who was part of the project team. “Data from the instrumented dummies shows that had this test been conducted with real warfighters in a real vehicle, we wouldn’t have seen any spinal injuries, head trauma, neck trauma or leg injuries.”
Because the wedge is removable, it could be replaced if damaged. Making the blast wedge removable also allows for an overall reduction of the vehicle’s height for shipping, an important issue for rapid deployment.
The research team, which also included Burt Jennings, Cal Jameson, Jake Leverett and Mark Entrekin, combined non-linear dynamic blast simulations and neural networks to study how blast forces would affect the vehicle. Conventional finite element analysis also provided valuable design feedback in development of the ULTRA II test article.
There were many tradeoffs to consider in designing the new concept, including vehicle height and resistance to blast forces that may come from many different angles.
“To survive the blast, you want to get as high off the ground as possible,” Massey noted. “But the higher you are off the ground, the more likely you are to roll over. This is an example of the tradeoffs that have to be balanced.”
In addition to crew protection, the researchers also designed a translating door that would provide a large side opening similar to that of existing civilian minivans. Such a door system would provide improved ingress/egress for the crew and could remain open when the vehicle is moving.
GTRI has presented data from the test to the Office of Naval Research, and hopes to pursue additional refinements to the blast wedge and overall vehicle concept. Among the goals would be to improve energy absorption from the blast wedge, and to evaluate whether the crew compartment should separate from the drive train in certain types of blasts.
“We think that the concept of a space-frame design is a very viable one, and we want to take the lessons we’ve learned so far to improve on it,” Massey added. “We’d also like to see if the concept of the energy-absorbing wedge can be applied to existing vehicles that are already out there. The bottom line is saving people’s lives and protecting them from injury.”
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Showing posts with label georgia tech. Show all posts
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27 May 2009
Georgia Tech: New Center Aims to Improve Recovery of Soldiers with Severe Injuries
When a soldier is wounded during combat, surgeons must focus on reducing infection and reconstructing damaged bone and tissues. Technologies that could improve the repair and regeneration processes are being developed in research laboratories across the country, but they are not being moved quickly enough into military trauma centers.
Organizers of the recently established Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Bioengineering for Soldier Survivability want to change that.
“The goal of the center is to rapidly move new technologies from the laboratory to patients so that we can improve the quality of life for our veterans as they return from the wars the United States is fighting,” said center director Barbara Boyan, the Price Gilbert, Jr. Chair in Tissue Engineering at the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
The center will leverage the expertise of Georgia Tech researchers in musculoskeletal biology and regenerative medicine to quickly move tools that are clinically valuable, safe and effective from laboratories to use in trauma centers. To reduce the amount of time from invention to clinical use, engineers and scientists in the center work in teams that include a clinician with experience in combat medical care and a medical device industry partner.
Support for the center is provided by the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research’s Orthopedic Trauma Research Program, the U.S. Department of Defense and industry.
Researchers in the center will initially focus on ways to improve the healing of wounds, segmental bone defects and massive soft tissue defects. Traumatic injuries that affect the arms, legs, head and neck require technologies for treatment at the time of injury and in the ensuing days and months.
“These combat injuries are complicated to treat because they are large and typically infected, so even determining when a soldier should be treated for optimal recovery is a challenge,” said Boyan, who is also the associate dean for research in Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering. “It is not known whether a regenerative therapy will be most effective if used immediately following injury or at some later time after scar tissue has been established at the wound site.”
By developing models that accurately reflect the complex aspects of injuries sustained by soldiers in combat, the researchers will be able to test assumptions about when to employ specific strategies and how to ensure their effectiveness. The models must also allow them to examine the use of technologies on both male and female patients, and on complex tissues that consist of nerves, a blood supply and multiple cell types.
“Since the processes of bone, vascular and neural formation are naturally linked during normal tissue development, growth and repair, our approach is to harness this knowledge by developing delivery strategies that present the right biologic cues in the right place at the right time to promote functional regeneration of multiple integrated tissues,” said associate director of the center Robert Guldberg, a professor in Georgia Tech’s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.
To enhance tissue repair and regeneration following a traumatic injury, the researchers are focusing their efforts on stem cells. Even though stem cells have tremendous potential for repairing such defects, effective methods do not yet exist for delivering them to an injury site and of ensuring that they survive and remain at that site long enough to impact the regeneration process.
“Clinicians currently inject stem cells into a vein and hope that the cells will migrate to sites of injury and remain at those sites long enough to participate in the repair process. While some cells certainly do migrate to injury sites, the actual percentage is very small and those that arrive at the site do not remain to engraft with the host tissue,” explained Boyan.
This limited effect may be the result of the injection process, according to Boyan, so researchers in the center are developing ways to protect the cells from damaging forces they might encounter when inserted into the body.
“Studies in our laboratory have shown that when stem cells are encapsulated in microbeads, they can be injected by needle without loss of cell viability and they remain at the injury site for at least two months,” said Boyan.
Protecting the cells during insertion is just the first step toward improved tissue repair. The researchers must also examine whether the stem cells will turn into cells typical of the implanted tissue and if they produce or should be paired with molecules that can enhance the healing of the implanted tissues.
Center researchers are also investigating whether bone marrow-derived stem cells can be used in the body to heal large defects in bone and cartilage if they are inserted in fiber mesh scaffolds and silk sponges during a surgical procedure.
Additional projects in the center include assessing tissue viability, preventing the growth of bone in the soft tissues of the body and improving pre-hospital care of orthopedic injuries. Since effective treatment of traumatic injuries is an important goal for the general public as well as the military population, the researchers also hope to adapt their technologies for use in hospitals.
Other researchers in the center include Ravi Bellamkonda, a professor in the Coulter Department; Andres Garcia, the Woodruff Faculty Fellow in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering; Robert Taylor, a professor in the Coulter Department and Emory’s Division of Cardiology; Zvi Schwartz, a visiting professor in the Coulter Department; and U.S. Army surgical medicine consultants Michael Yaszemski and David Cohen.
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Organizers of the recently established Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Bioengineering for Soldier Survivability want to change that.
“The goal of the center is to rapidly move new technologies from the laboratory to patients so that we can improve the quality of life for our veterans as they return from the wars the United States is fighting,” said center director Barbara Boyan, the Price Gilbert, Jr. Chair in Tissue Engineering at the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
The center will leverage the expertise of Georgia Tech researchers in musculoskeletal biology and regenerative medicine to quickly move tools that are clinically valuable, safe and effective from laboratories to use in trauma centers. To reduce the amount of time from invention to clinical use, engineers and scientists in the center work in teams that include a clinician with experience in combat medical care and a medical device industry partner.
Support for the center is provided by the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research’s Orthopedic Trauma Research Program, the U.S. Department of Defense and industry.
Researchers in the center will initially focus on ways to improve the healing of wounds, segmental bone defects and massive soft tissue defects. Traumatic injuries that affect the arms, legs, head and neck require technologies for treatment at the time of injury and in the ensuing days and months.
“These combat injuries are complicated to treat because they are large and typically infected, so even determining when a soldier should be treated for optimal recovery is a challenge,” said Boyan, who is also the associate dean for research in Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering. “It is not known whether a regenerative therapy will be most effective if used immediately following injury or at some later time after scar tissue has been established at the wound site.”
By developing models that accurately reflect the complex aspects of injuries sustained by soldiers in combat, the researchers will be able to test assumptions about when to employ specific strategies and how to ensure their effectiveness. The models must also allow them to examine the use of technologies on both male and female patients, and on complex tissues that consist of nerves, a blood supply and multiple cell types.
“Since the processes of bone, vascular and neural formation are naturally linked during normal tissue development, growth and repair, our approach is to harness this knowledge by developing delivery strategies that present the right biologic cues in the right place at the right time to promote functional regeneration of multiple integrated tissues,” said associate director of the center Robert Guldberg, a professor in Georgia Tech’s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.
To enhance tissue repair and regeneration following a traumatic injury, the researchers are focusing their efforts on stem cells. Even though stem cells have tremendous potential for repairing such defects, effective methods do not yet exist for delivering them to an injury site and of ensuring that they survive and remain at that site long enough to impact the regeneration process.
“Clinicians currently inject stem cells into a vein and hope that the cells will migrate to sites of injury and remain at those sites long enough to participate in the repair process. While some cells certainly do migrate to injury sites, the actual percentage is very small and those that arrive at the site do not remain to engraft with the host tissue,” explained Boyan.
This limited effect may be the result of the injection process, according to Boyan, so researchers in the center are developing ways to protect the cells from damaging forces they might encounter when inserted into the body.
“Studies in our laboratory have shown that when stem cells are encapsulated in microbeads, they can be injected by needle without loss of cell viability and they remain at the injury site for at least two months,” said Boyan.
Protecting the cells during insertion is just the first step toward improved tissue repair. The researchers must also examine whether the stem cells will turn into cells typical of the implanted tissue and if they produce or should be paired with molecules that can enhance the healing of the implanted tissues.
Center researchers are also investigating whether bone marrow-derived stem cells can be used in the body to heal large defects in bone and cartilage if they are inserted in fiber mesh scaffolds and silk sponges during a surgical procedure.
Additional projects in the center include assessing tissue viability, preventing the growth of bone in the soft tissues of the body and improving pre-hospital care of orthopedic injuries. Since effective treatment of traumatic injuries is an important goal for the general public as well as the military population, the researchers also hope to adapt their technologies for use in hospitals.
Other researchers in the center include Ravi Bellamkonda, a professor in the Coulter Department; Andres Garcia, the Woodruff Faculty Fellow in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering; Robert Taylor, a professor in the Coulter Department and Emory’s Division of Cardiology; Zvi Schwartz, a visiting professor in the Coulter Department; and U.S. Army surgical medicine consultants Michael Yaszemski and David Cohen.
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24 March 2009
Georgia Tech Announces New PhD for Returning GIs
With President Obama’s accelerated timetable for withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq scheduled to be complete in August of next year, the nation will soon be faced with the task of reintegrating members of the U.S. armed forces into the workforce. Georgia Tech is leading the way by announcing today the development of an interdisciplinary Ph.D. to help returning GIs capitalize on the skills and military experience they’ve received while overseas. The new Ph.D. will be an interdisciplinary effort between the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and the College of Engineering.
“This new Ph.D. will prepare our military men and women to re-enter the civilian workforce as leaders in rebuilding America’s roads, schools, health, governance, energy and utility systems,” said Sue V. Rosser, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
“As the country’s top producer of engineers and the home of active ROTC programs training future members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, Georgia Tech is a natural place for members of the armed forces to continue their education,” said Don P. Giddens, dean of the College of Engineering.
In just a few weeks, Tech will begin conducting an extensive survey of the needs and interests of GIs so that the new degree best capitalizes on their expertise. In addition, Georgia Tech plans on making this survey data available to all institutions so that they can use it in planning their own programs for returning GIs.
“There is a strong synergy between the engineering skills and experience of our Post 9/11 GIs and the nation’s need for such skills under President Obama’s initiative to rebuild America’s infrastructure,” said Rosser. “This survey will enable us to develop an interdisciplinary Ph.D. that precisely targets the intersection of the two, and can become a model for graduate engineering programs for returning GIs at institutions around the country.”
While the specifics of this new degree largely depend on what the survey data uncovers, Tech anticipates it will include courses in systems engineering, public policy, economics, project management and organizational behavior. The College of Engineering will work closely with the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and its Sam Nunn School of International Affairs in developing the degree.
Georgia Tech anticipates recruiting students for the new degree program at the end of 2009 and beginning the new Ph.D. in the fall of 2010, in time for veterans to take advantage of the educational benefits afforded by the new GI Bill.
“Georgia Tech demonstrates its leadership by winning National Science Foundation support for ‘Bridge to the Future for GIs.’ The project will both serve our returning veterans and will contribute to revitalizing our engineering and infrastructure,” said Susan Kemnitzer, deputy director for the Engineering Education and Centers Division of the National Science Foundation.
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“This new Ph.D. will prepare our military men and women to re-enter the civilian workforce as leaders in rebuilding America’s roads, schools, health, governance, energy and utility systems,” said Sue V. Rosser, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
“As the country’s top producer of engineers and the home of active ROTC programs training future members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, Georgia Tech is a natural place for members of the armed forces to continue their education,” said Don P. Giddens, dean of the College of Engineering.
In just a few weeks, Tech will begin conducting an extensive survey of the needs and interests of GIs so that the new degree best capitalizes on their expertise. In addition, Georgia Tech plans on making this survey data available to all institutions so that they can use it in planning their own programs for returning GIs.
“There is a strong synergy between the engineering skills and experience of our Post 9/11 GIs and the nation’s need for such skills under President Obama’s initiative to rebuild America’s infrastructure,” said Rosser. “This survey will enable us to develop an interdisciplinary Ph.D. that precisely targets the intersection of the two, and can become a model for graduate engineering programs for returning GIs at institutions around the country.”
While the specifics of this new degree largely depend on what the survey data uncovers, Tech anticipates it will include courses in systems engineering, public policy, economics, project management and organizational behavior. The College of Engineering will work closely with the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and its Sam Nunn School of International Affairs in developing the degree.
Georgia Tech anticipates recruiting students for the new degree program at the end of 2009 and beginning the new Ph.D. in the fall of 2010, in time for veterans to take advantage of the educational benefits afforded by the new GI Bill.
“Georgia Tech demonstrates its leadership by winning National Science Foundation support for ‘Bridge to the Future for GIs.’ The project will both serve our returning veterans and will contribute to revitalizing our engineering and infrastructure,” said Susan Kemnitzer, deputy director for the Engineering Education and Centers Division of the National Science Foundation.
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