Military tracked vehicle systems, such as the T-158 used on Abrams M1 tanks face high maintenance costs due to fatigue and accelerated wear of rubber components, including track shoes, and bushings. Due to extreme operating environments featuring abrasive wear, sustained high tensional loads, and high temperatures, the average life of current natural rubber derived elastometer components is seldom more than 1500 miles, and sometimes less, for 55 ton weight class vehicles. NCI proposes to develop a new elastomer composite based on chemically functionalized small diameter multiwall carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNT). Employing this type of chemistry, NCI has demonstrated elastomer compounds with significantly enhanced physical properties such as tensile modulus, retention of strength at elevated temperature, reduction in creep, and greater fatigue resistance for applications in the energy industry. The Phase I effort will aim to enhance key elastomer performance metrics such as hysteresis, creep, and heat transfer by a minimum of 25% over a baseline natural rubber compound that mimics the material currently used in the T158 system. With the proposed technology, operational lifetimes for track system components can potentially be extended to several thousand miles even under highly demanding field conditions.
Keywords: Elastomer, Track Components, Rubber, Polymer, Composite, Fatigue Resistance, Carbon Nanotubes, Functionalization.
