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Mammoth truck dynamometer
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CURRENT TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
Mammoth Truck Dynamometer.mA mammoth 60-ton, 1,000 hp., 45-m.p.h. combination t[uck:dynamometer, built through the cooperative efforts of the General Electric Company, the Knuckey Truck Company of San Francisco, and the U. S. Army Ordnance Department, will soon appear on the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., it has been revealed. Primary purpose of the 40-foot, gasoline-electric giant dynamometer is to test the tractive effort of large Army wheeled and tracked combat vehicles over various types of terrain. As such, it rates a maximum drawbar pull of 60,000 pounds at speed as low as two miles per hour. Employed as a prime mover to tow test equipment, such as heavy field pieces and trailers, to ascertain tractive rolling resistance, the truck rates continuously 38,000 pounds tractive effort at a speed of 2.5 m.p.h. As a truck functioning merely to propel itself, the vehicle is capable of 60,000 pound tractive effort and a top speed of 45 m.p.h. The 1,000-hp. drive is provided by two 500-hp. engine-generator power plants, each consisting of a Ford tank engine and a General Electric traction generator. Each generator supplies power to two traction motors which drive the wheels through sprocket and chain drive. The dynamometer can be operated with one or both power plants. Engine speed is controlled by an electro-hydraulic governing system. Automatic overload and current limit electrical circuits protect the engines and generators from damage. Amplidyne exciters furnish excitation for motors a n d generators. The cab of the massive vehicle accommodates a driver and load-control operator. When operating as a truck the driver controls the vehicle with two foot pedals, one for power and one for braking. Being an electric-drive vehicle, there is no gear shifting. Reverse of direction is controlled by a manually operated switch on the instrument panel. Dynamometer or load-absorbing operation is controlled by both the loadcontrol operator and the driver. The driver steers the vehicle and operates the air brakes when required. The dynamometer or load-control operator controls the electrical load on the towed vehicle. Mounted on a small panel, directly in front of the operator, are a control switch, which makes the electrical load circuits operative, and three control knobs. The load-control operator can increase or decrease dynamometer load absorption by means of the three knobs. Operational performance of the dynamometer is recorded by drawbar stain gage equipment and elaborate speed, time, and fuel consumption instruments. R. H. O.
CURRENT TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
Mammoth Truck Dynamometer.mA mammoth 60-ton, 1,000 hp., 45-m.p.h. combination t[uck:dynamometer, built through the cooperative efforts of the General Electric Company, the Knuckey Truck Company of San Francisco, and the U. S. Army Ordnance Department, will soon appear on the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., it has been revealed. Primary purpose of the 40-foot, gasoline-electric giant dynamometer is to test the tractive effort of large Army wheeled and tracked combat vehicles over various types of terrain. As such, it rates a maximum drawbar pull of 60,000 pounds at speed as low as two miles per hour. Employed as a prime mover to tow test equipment, such as heavy field pieces and trailers, to ascertain tractive rolling resistance, the truck rates continuously 38,000 pounds tractive effort at a speed of 2.5 m.p.h. As a truck functioning merely to propel itself, the vehicle is capable of 60,000 pound tractive effort and a top speed of 45 m.p.h. The 1,000-hp. drive is provided by two 500-hp. engine-generator power plants, each consisting of a Ford tank engine and a General Electric traction generator. Each generator supplies power to two traction motors which drive the wheels through sprocket and chain drive. The dynamometer can be operated with one or both power plants. Engine speed is controlled by an electro-hydraulic governing system. Automatic overload and current limit electrical circuits protect the engines and generators from damage. Amplidyne exciters furnish excitation for motors a n d generators. The cab of the massive vehicle accommodates a driver and load-control operator. When operating as a truck the driver controls the vehicle with two foot pedals, one for power and one for braking. Being an electric-drive vehicle, there is no gear shifting. Reverse of direction is controlled by a manually operated switch on the instrument panel. Dynamometer or load-absorbing operation is controlled by both the loadcontrol operator and the driver. The driver steers the vehicle and operates the air brakes when required. The dynamometer or load-control operator controls the electrical load on the towed vehicle. Mounted on a small panel, directly in front of the operator, are a control switch, which makes the electrical load circuits operative, and three control knobs. The load-control operator can increase or decrease dynamometer load absorption by means of the three knobs. Operational performance of the dynamometer is recorded by drawbar stain gage equipment and elaborate speed, time, and fuel consumption instruments. R. H. O.