Moreover, the oil service quality of armored vehicles was much more variable than that of commercial trucks because of the engine compartment. With several main battle tanks of a battalion, there were differences in the individual mission profile, engine condition and purity of the oil fill with regards to contamination by dust, water and refilled oil quantities of another oil supplier. When evaluating oil oxidation with Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), a similar result was obtained (Figure 3). For this, the data of one battalion equipped with main battle tanks was selected (Figure 2).Ĭoncerning kinematic viscosity, there was no apparent trend related to the traveled distance. In addition, the oil condition data could not be correlated with fuel consumption since the last oil service, as some vehicles had been operated for several hours without refueling before sampling.įirst, any correlation between kinematic viscosity and the operated kilometers since the last oil service was examined.

There was also a need for continuous evaluation and suitability testing of gained results, as well as strong varying vehicle mission profiles and sophisticated diagnostic research to gain reliable information concerning engines with suspected impending failures. Many challenges were encountered, such as sampling by non-professionals, rotation in the staff, decreased availability of the vehicles, different oil service quality and engine oil compositions, non-documented oil refill quantities and long-term used vehicles with unknown current engine conditions. Kinematic viscosity (40 and 100 degrees C) and VI.To avoid cross-contamination with other functional fluids taken from the vehicle, every sample was taken with a new sampling kit.Īmong the monitored vehicles were 40 main battle tanks (Figure 1), 25 armored infantry fighting vehicles (AIFV), 16 armored howitzers, 25 armored reconnaissance vehicles (ARV) and 10 mechanized infantry combat vehicles (MICV). Oil samples removed from the monitoring well were taken every 90 days with an oil sampling kit normally used for aviation components. The spectrum included armored reconnaissance vehicles (ARV) as well as main battle tanks (MBT). In 2004, a field trial was initiated over a four-year period with tactical and combat vehicles.

Engine compartment of a military tank