The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has an ongoing research program to evaluate new technologies for increasing postcrash fire survivability on aircraft and to determine methods to increase the performance capabilities of aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) vehicles. A rear-wheel steering (RWS) system was developed to increase the operational performance characteristics of ARFF vehicles in terms of improving vehicle maneuverability, narrowing the turning diameter, and reducing drag on the tires, which should therefore improve tire life. The objective of this effort was to evaluate the performance of the FAA 6x6 ARFF research vehicle with and without the RWS system. The performance was measured in terms of changes in turning diameter, tire deflection, tread wear, and actual tire life data from U.S. airports operating 6x6 ARFF vehicles.
Test and Evaluation of Rear-Wheel Steering for Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Vehicles
2008
26 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Transportation Safety , Road Transportation , Fire Services, Law Enforcement, & Criminal Justice , Police, Fire, & Emergency Services , Fire fighting vehicles , Turning (Maneuvering) , Steering , Turning diameter , Tire deflection , Methods , Procedures , Figures , Tables (Data) , Tread wear , Aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) vehicles , Rear wheel steering , Calculated maximum tire life , Customer surveys , Wall-to-wall turning diameter