THE MULTIFUNCTION OIL FOR US ARMY TANK AND AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLES

DOI 10.32758/2071-5951-2020-0-6-56-61

УДК: 621.89+006+94 (73)

Ivanov A. V.

(FAE «The 25th State Research Institute of Himmotology of Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation», Moscow)

Многофункциональное масло для наземной военной техники армии США

Keywords:US Army, tank and automotive vehicles, engine, transmission, hydraulic system, standards, specification, multifunctional, climate, low viscosity oil, program, fuel, economy.

Abstract

The U.S. Army has a desire to consolidate multiple MIL specification fluids into a single specification, or Single Common Powertrain Lubricant (SCPL) program. This program is seeking to develop an all-season (arctic to desert), fuel-efficient, multi-functional powertrain fluid with extended drain capabilities and designed to consolidate multiple military lubricant specifications into a single product, or single specification. This paper covers the long term field demonstration programs of the SCPL conducted three locations, representing basic, arctic, and desert climate conditions respectively. Overall the field demonstration for all three locations was considered successful. Real world military vehicle operation using SCPL did not show any differences from currently fielded MIL-PRF-2104 and MIL-PRF-46167 products. In addition, the durability of the SCPL over the one and two year test durations showed that the SCPL is capable of extended drain intervals than the current annual oil change recommendations. These results confirms that the SCPL is a drop in replacement, and is providing improved overall performance compared to currently fielded products. The use of low viscosity engine oil was shown to have a significant impact on fuel consumption: the difference between the current MIL-PRF-2104H SAE 15W-40 grade and the best experimental fluid had an improvement of 1.66% over the test cycle.