Experimental studies of adapted medium-duty fire trucks for emergency response

Abstract

Fire trucks should be maximally adapted to the elimination of emergency situations, in particular, to provide the necessary intensity of supply of extinguishing agents, that is, to be multifunctional. Special requirements are imposed on fire-fighting vehicles: high cross-country ability and speed, the ability to transport one compartment, transport tools and equipment for grabbing, backfilling with soil, filling the edge of the fire with water or chemical solutions, and the like.

Scientific research is aimed at developing ways to assess the effectiveness of new models of fire and rescue vehicles for compliance with the requirements of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Ukraine, in particular, through comparative analysis with alternative samples, to determine the factors affecting the operation of a fire truck, to develop a method for adapting vehicles for emergency response, to improve their level of operational excellence and operational efficiency.

To realize the purpose of the assessment tests, a test procedure was developed and an experimental model of a fire-fighting vehicle for emergency response was created.

The obtained relationship between the number of revolutions of the crankshaft of the engine and the value of the dynamic torque in the transmission of the test fire vehicle in the case of a sharp engagement of the clutch in the vehicle starting modes can be represented graphically. It is proposed to compare different variants of fire engine designs to take this characteristic as an efficiency criterion.

Experimental studies were carried out: starting a car from a place on a steep rise, followed by an increase in gears; overcoming a roadside ditch with flat walls 0.2–0.6 m deep and at an angle of 45° to its axis; running over with wheels of one side of a fire engine on a curb 140–150 mm high; entering a turn from straight-line movement to the minimum possible turning radius on an asphalt surface in II and III gears at a constant speed of 10-12 km/h.

To confirm the validity of the accepted assumptions of the mathematical model, the accuracy of applications and the reliability of the results obtained, the adequacy of mathematical modeling was checked by comparing the test problems of statics and dynamics of the movement of fire trucks for emergency response.

A fire truck for liquidation of emergency situations, modeled on the basis of the proposed adaptation method of the base chassis for the needs of extinguishing forest fires and the formation of a container module, makes it possible to increase the efficiency of its use according to the selected criteria by 18%. The use of the longitudinal flexibility of the container modules in comparison with the conventional body mount provides a reduction in fuel consumption when driving a fire truck up to 4%.