Vehicle performance over snow : math-model validation study

A field validation study was conducted to accuracy of predicting vehicle performance over snow by two popular methods. The methods were those in use by the U.S. Army Waterways Experiment Station and the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command. Tests were conducted in shallow and deep snows with two military wheeled vehicles, the M151 1/4-ton truck and the M34 2-1/2-ton truck, and three tracked vehicles, the M113 APC, the ST-4B Snow-Trac, and the BV-202. The results of the study indicate that both methods were acceptable in predicting tracked vehicle performance in deep snow but very poor in shallow snow. The capacity of the two methods relative to predicting wheeled vehicle performance in shallow or deep snow was unacceptable in their current form. No attempts were made to modify the methods during the study.