Design of Demining Machines

Dinko Mikulic

Design of DeminingMachines

123

Dinko MikulicVelika GoricaZagrebCroatia

ISBN 978-1-4471-4503-5 ISBN 978-1-4471-4504-2 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-4504-2Springer London Heidelberg New York Dordrecht

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012945107

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Foreword

In constant effort to eliminate mine danger, the international mine action communityhas developed the safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of clearance methods.Demining machines have become necessary when conducting humanitariandemining. In humanitarian demining practice, mechanization of demining makes adifference, providing higher safety and greater productivity.

This book is based on the real identity of demining machine development,which proved successful in the implementation of mechanic technology andachieved results of clearing mine suspected areas. It presents the methodology ofdesign and the demining machine testing. Based on that, the demining machinesproduced and used in the world for the purpose of eliminating mine threat havebeen developed. This is the result of understanding their role in conditions ofhumanitarian demining.

We would like to thank the author for making this unique publication. Itshould help demining machine development in the world and their wider use inhumanitarian demining.

Vladimir KoromanNikola Gambiroza

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Preface

Design of Demining Machines describes the development and testing of moderndemining machines in humanitarian demining. Machines and other equipment aremechanizing the demining process, thus replacing human involvement in thisdangerous activity, and therefore reducing risk. Modern humanitarian deminingcannot be imagined without the use of machines because this reduces time andcosts for demining.

Relevant data for design of demining machines have been provided. Out ofdifferent humanitarian demining machinery, this book provides description of theperspective machinery that draws attention as well as some innovative andinspiring development solutions. It also describes the development technologies,companies, and projects. The provided data is gained through genuine researchand development. Some data were excerpted from scientific research projects,scientific papers, and producers’ material. Emphasized were also drafts ofstandards for testing and evaluation of demining machines. This book is primarilytailored as a text for the study of the fundamentals and engineering techniquesinvolved in the calculation and design of demining machines. Much attention hasbeen given to the dynamic processes occurring in machine assemblies and com-ponents, as well as in demining machine as a whole. This enables full estimate ofthe effects of various design factors and proper selection of optimal parameters fordesigning the demining machine.

I hope this book will contribute to the spreading of knowledge for safer andfaster removal of mine threats in humanitarian demining.

Zagreb, May 2012 Dinko Mikulic

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Acknowledgments

I would like to use this opportunity to express my appreciation to all my associateswho have helped in the research of demining machines and equipment, especiallyto Mr. Ivan Steker for his help during the preparation of this book. I would alsolike to express my gratitude to Mr. Al Carruthers / GICHD for the guidance inpreparing the book for publication.

Many thanks go to Mr. Vjekoslav Majetic and Mr. Tihomir Mendek from theDOK-ING Company for their assistance during the preparation of this book. Iwould also like to express my gratitude to the reviewers Vladimir Koroman, Ph.D.and Nikola Gambiroza, Ph.D.

Let me also thank CROMAC, CROMAC-CTDT, and DOK-ING Company inparticular, as well as the Croatian Standards Institute, for providing their per-mission to use their own specific material. Finally, I would like to thank all theother demining companies and associates for their valuable suggestions.

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Contents

1 Humanitarian Demining Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1 Landmines Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1.1 Countries Affected to Various Degrees by Minesand Unexploded Ordnance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1.2 Landmines Obstacles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.1.3 Demining Stress Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.2 Humanitarian Demining Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.2.1 Specification of Mine Clearance Quality . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.3 Efficiency of Demining Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.3.1 Classification of Demining Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.3.2 Demining Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131.3.3 Efficiency of Deminers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151.3.4 Efficiency of Mine Detection Dogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.3.5 Efficiency of Demining Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.3.6 Experience of the Machine Demining . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181.3.7 Role of Machine Demining. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2 Mechanics of Machine Demining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.1 Soil Categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302.2 Soil Trafficability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

2.2.1 Mean Maximum Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312.2.2 Soil Cone Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332.2.3 Wheel Rut Depth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352.2.4 Mobility Index, MI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

2.3 Toolbox Demining System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372.4 Soil Digging Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

2.4.1 Soil Cutting Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392.4.2 Flail Force Impulse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

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2.5 Demining Machines with Flails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412.5.1 Flail Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412.5.2 Hammer Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452.5.3 Machine Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492.5.4 Flail Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512.5.5 Flail Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

2.6 Demining Machine with Tillers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612.6.1 Helix System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622.6.2 Cutting Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

2.7 Demining Machine with Rollers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652.7.1 Heavy Mine Rollers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662.7.2 Medium Mine Rollers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

3 Design of Demining Machines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733.1 Project Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

3.1.1 Demining Machine Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763.1.2 Operating Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773.1.3 Performance Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773.1.4 Design Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783.1.5 Reliability Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793.1.6 Documentation Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823.1.7 Testing Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823.1.8 Evaluation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

3.2 Design of Light Demining Machine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843.2.1 Soil Digging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843.2.2 Drive System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853.2.3 Cooling System and Air Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893.2.4 Flail System and Soil Digging Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923.2.5 Machine Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943.2.6 Machine Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973.2.7 Assessment of Acceptability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983.2.8 Light Demining Machine with Rollers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1013.2.9 Mini Demining Bulldozer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1033.2.10 Advanced Demining Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1043.2.11 Autonomous Unmanned Mine Clearing

Robot Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1083.3 Design of Medium Demining Machine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

3.3.1 Use of Medium Machines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1123.3.2 Requirements for Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1143.3.3 Soil Resistance and Flail Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1173.3.4 Engine and Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1253.3.5 Machine Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

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3.4 Design of Heavy Demining Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1303.4.1 Concept of Two Flails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1303.4.2 Flail and Tiller Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1343.4.3 Machine Resistance on Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1353.4.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

3.5 Support Demining Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1383.5.1 Demining Excavators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1393.5.2 Excavator Long Reach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1403.5.3 Operator Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

3.6 Ecological Demining Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1413.6.1 Machine Acceptability Eco Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1453.6.2 DE Drive System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1493.6.3 Electric Demining Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

4 Design of Mine Protected Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1534.1 Project Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1534.2 Selection of Chassis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

4.2.1 Cross-Country Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1554.2.2 Selection of Chassis and Mobile

Mechanic Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1564.2.3 Armour Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

4.3 Mine Protected Vehicle Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1584.3.1 Safety Compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1584.3.2 Crew Protection Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

4.4 Level of Ballistic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1604.5 Cone of Destruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1624.6 Verification of Countermine Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1634.7 Protection Against Impulse Noise and Vibrations . . . . . . . . . . . 166

4.7.1 Survivability of the Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1664.7.2 Protection Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

5 Personal Protective Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1695.1 Personal Protective Equipment of the Machine Operator . . . . . . 170

5.1.1 Machine Operator Risk with a RemoteControlled Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

5.1.2 Protective Vest, Helmet and Footwear . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1725.2 Requirements for Personal Protective Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . 172

5.2.1 Definition of V50 Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1735.2.2 Helmet and Visor Characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1745.2.3 Protective Vest Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

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5.2.4 Mine Protective Boots and Covers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1755.2.5 Acceptance Criterions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

6 Test and Evaluation of Demining Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1796.1 Criteria for Evaluation of Demining Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1796.2 Demining Machine Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

6.2.1 Soil Digging Depth Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1816.3 Survivability and Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

6.3.1 Operator Protection Against Mine Fragments . . . . . . . . 1846.3.2 Protection Against Impulse Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1866.3.3 Protection Against Vibrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

6.4 Cerovac Test Range. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1896.4.1 Demining Machine Testing Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1906.4.2 Detection Dog and Dog Handler Testing Area . . . . . . . 1926.4.3 All Detector Types Testing Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1946.4.4 Personnel Training Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

6.5 Demining Machine Testing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1956.5.1 Preparation of Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1966.5.2 Testing of Depth and Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1966.5.3 Machine Testing on AP Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1986.5.4 Machine Testing on AT Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2006.5.5 Machine Operator Protection Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2016.5.6 Demining Machine Usage Acceptability . . . . . . . . . . . . 2026.5.7 Annual Compliance Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2036.5.8 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

6.6 Research of Machine Usage on Soft Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2046.6.1 New Loose Soil Layer—‘‘Banana Layer’’. . . . . . . . . . . 2056.6.2 Soil Trafficability in the Domain

of Terramechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2066.6.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

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