TARDEC Researchers Develop Sensor-Enhanced Armor

The BRAC article, “Relocating Armor History, Honor, and Lineage” by Dan Nelson, ARMOR, March-April 2009, reminded me of an issue that surfaced months ago when someone came up with the absurd idea of moving the monuments adjacent to the Patton Museum. The whole proposal was void of planning, cost analysis, and certainly public relations. When recently questioned, the strategic planner could not provide a straight answer. Like the foundation’s chairman and Mr. Nelson, I too have important marching orders. In 1971, the 6th Armored Division (AD) Association board of directors and Major General (Retired) Robert W. Grow delegated me to keep their history alive. Today, my concerns are still for those great mounted warriors from the “Super Sixth,” which General Patton considered one of the most dependable armored divisions under his command. Sadly, there are less than a hundred alive today and all they have left is a proud historical tradition that started at Fort Knox. Their monuments were placed, as many others, to honor and remember their units and fallen comrades. At the last reunion in 2000, a few hundred 6th AD veterans and their families solemnly stood by their revered monuments. Taps was played; tears were shed. Some in wheel chairs, some with canes, and some supported by walkers, gingerly saluted their fallen comrades. A few remaining 6th AD veterans, including the WWII G1, a Saint George Medallion holder and past president and treasurer of the 6th AD Veterans Association; and a past president and holder of the Gold Medallion Noble Patron of Armor are quite disturbed over the monument issue. They strongly feel that there is no concern for their honorable history, as evidenced by a recent proposal to move the monuments. Have we forgotten that the 6th AD veterans contributed thousands of dollars and many of their wartime records to the Patton Museum? What about the bricks that were donated to the Museum by the 6th AD vets and their families? Will they also be dismantled? One widow of a deceased 6th AD vet told me she would rather have her brick returned before it was dishonored by BRAC planners. Perhaps the appropriate place for the bricks would be the new Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central, located just outside of Fort Knox, in the form of say a “Wall of Heroes” or “Veterans Memorial Walkway.” Today, their history is being tempered by social overhead capital coupled with intrusive military and civilian political bureaucratic intrigues. No longer can the 6th AD vets or any armor-cavalry veteran of WWII put up a defense for their history born at Fort Knox. They are old and rapidly moving on to a spot next to ‘Fid-dlers Green’ where their mounted comrades are waiting. They will share their last canteens and reminisce on how Fort Knox was really the maneuver center of excellence.

Author of: Through Mobility We Conquer: The Mechanization of the U. S. Cavalry 14th Cavalry Association Reunion Active, Reserve, and retired troopers! The 14th Cavalry Association’s 2009 Reunion will be held from 9 to 13 September 2009 in San Antonio, Texas, at the historic Menger Hotel. Program highlights and an online registration form is available at www.14cav.org. There is a reduced registration rate, $60 per person, for those who register before 9 August. Hotel reservations are available online at www.mengerhotel.com and by telephone at 800-345-9285 or 210-223-

4361. If you wish to register by mail or have any questions, please feel free to contact Max Whipps, P. O. Box 56281, Portland, OR, 97236, or e-mail at OPCEN@14CAV. ORG. We look forward to seeing you there! Armor Battalion (FRG) Reunion The 1st Battalion, 64th Armor and the 1st Battalion, 69th Armor (FRG) will host their reunion from 26 to 28 February 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada! The point of contact for the reunion is Retired First Sergeant Brian Goodknight at e-mail goodknight@insightbb.com or telephone 502-413-1200. LETTERS from Page 2 52 — how various cracks and defects effect ballistic armor performance. An active NDE system can be used as a vehicle health-monitoring system to make the commander aware of vulnerabilities. The NDE can also be done at the depot level to assess armor integrity between missions to test armor defects or flaws, as well as internal damage that can lead to armor failure. Knowing the severity of defects helps commanders monitor the armor’s life cycle. Future work will concentrate on creating handheld devices, which will be available in the field, to detect cracks and defects in armor. TARDEC is working with local industry, academia, and other small companies to develop this technology. Dr. Thomas J. Meitzler is a research engineer, Department of Survivability, U. S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC). He has a B. S. and M. S. in physics from Eastern Michigan University and a Ph. D. in electrical engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit. He is co-winner of the 1995 U. S. Army Research and Development Achievement award and has several patents. His research interests include sensor and image fusion, ultrasonic and microwave nondestructive testing and imaging, and functional magnetic resonance imaging. TARDEC Researchers Develop Sensor-Enhanced Armor by Dr. Thomas Meitzler In February 2007, U. S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC), Armor Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT/NDE) laboratory began exploratory NDT/NDE of ground vehicle armor plates. One of the NDT/ NDE team’s goals was to determine to what extent sensors could be used to indicate whether armor plates can withstand impacts in the field and continue to protect crews and vehicles. The Armor NDT/NDE Laboratory, the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Argonne National Laboratory, and industry partners are working collaboratively to understand and improve ultrasonic imaging technology that is being used to diagnose armor health at various stages in armor’s life cycle. The embedded armor crack detection technology uses ultrasonic data obtained by TARDEC researchers to indicate damage to armor plates. Researchers monitor the signal from damaged and undamaged plates using ultrasonic sensors. Researchers find the armor plate’s natural resonant frequency — or sound — and compare the undamaged to damaged plates. The NDT/NDE team works with TAR DEC’s manufacturing business group, which creates the different armor coupon recipes specified by ARL. After the NDT/NDE team determines a baseline vibration spectrum for undamaged plates, it damages the plates by shooting bullets at them and then captures another ultrasonic reading. The plates undergo a second embedded ultrasonic evaluation to determine the extent of the damage, obtaining high-resolution pictures, which are captured with the in-house X-ray and ultrasound, and compared to vibration data. These pictures are compared to data provided by readings from sensors that are embedded in armor. Sensor enhanced armor (SEA) uses ultrasonic data measurement in addition to a charted computer display. TARDEC’s intelligent ground systems team is working with the NDT/NDE team to create a graphical user interface that allows vehicle commanders to know the status of armor plates as indicated by the embedded sensors. Piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers are used to distinguish modes of vibration in plates to indicate plate damage. The amplitudes from the vibration spectrum are compared among damaged and undamaged vehicle plates. TARDEC began using bonded sensors for ultrasonic crack detection on body armor plates and extended the technique to various types of composite armors used on ground vehicles. In-house NDE techniques are used to calibrate sensors embedded in armor for crack detection and health monitoring. This information can then be provided to commanders, which will enable them to make better decisions on when armor panels should be replaced and which missions are possible given the armor’s condition. TARDEC and ARL are working together to determine