= (3) Tank Steering Systems INTRODUCTION ‘Tank Steering Systems are to this day something that the Meccanoman knows very litle about. There has been the odd article supposedly explaining how a tank steers, but most of these are factually inaccurate. Extremely’ fow bbooks on the subject have been written as the average layman does not really mind how a tank steers! ‘There is ‘one book, sadly out of print now, called "The Design and Development of Fighting Vehicles’, written by RM. Ogorkiewicz, published by Macdonald. Tis must be the “ible” on the subject and makes fascinating reading if one can find a copy. The book has been my main reference for this article, which aims to explain the development of tank steering systems and once and for all describe to the Meccanoman the principles involved. It will become apparent that Meccano is an ideal way of exploring the mysteries of differentials when applied to tank stecring. ()Clutch-Brake Steering ‘The easiest way of steering a tracked vehicle is to simply connect or disconnect the drive to each track. To steer left, for example, one would maintain drive to the right track only and brake the left one. By slipping the left brake, different turning radii are obtainable. This technique is fine for light vehicles, but it is very inefficient on power as the brakes dissipate vast amounts of power (heat) when they are slipped, Another disadvantage is that, ‘when steering, the average forward speed of the vehicle is ‘not maintained and hence this could be a slight problem if the enemy is om your tail with a tank twice as big and just as fast. Despite the drawbacks, the system was used in the 1920's and 30's by most countries and duriag World War 2 in the Russian T34, Fig. 1 Cletrac Steering System 46 DIFFERENTIALS, THE THEORY AND PRACTICE PHILLIP EDWARDS (@Braked Differential Steering ‘This technique uses a standard differential between the tracks with the drive being applied to the cage, exactly as in a car. There are independent brakes for each half shaft ‘To steer, braking power is applied to one or other side. To ppark the vehicle both brakes are applied simultaneously. ‘The advantage of this system over the Clutch-Brake ‘method is that the average Vehicle speed is maintained, ie. when one steers left the right track speeds up accordingly. This system also has an extra drawback that is also a feature in many other differential stecring arrangements. When traveling along in a straight line without either of the brakes being applied, the vehicle's heading can be affected by the terrain, There is nothing to stop the differential action occurring when one track meets a higher rolling resistance than the other. The tank would steer all ‘on its own. This problem usually is minimised by the fact that the pure rolling resistance in making the tracks rotate tends to swamp any differential driving forces caused by ‘bumps in the ground. However, in Meccano models this is not usually the case and hence a differential lock has to be added to allow sufficient control of the model. This technique was used in the 1930's and was used in the Carden-Loyd and Universal Carriers of WW2. @) Controlled Differential Steering ‘This system was invented by the Cleveland Tractor Co. (USA) in 1921 and is still used, together with its variants, to this day. The basic system, the Cletrac Regenerative Steering System, is shown in Fig. 1. A standard "all-pinion* 4ifforential is augmented by two steering brakes which lock the idler pinions, inside the diff. With reference to Fig. 1, for movement straight ahead the entre differential rotates and the idlers do not rotate relative to the cage. To steer, ‘one idler is forced to rotate relative to the cage by applying the appropriate stecring brake. This in turn forces one half shaft to rotate slower than the other. The system is called regenerative because during steering there is n0 power lost in slipping the brakes. The only problem is that ‘only one steering radius is allowed, ie when a stecring brake is fully on. One can of course slip that brake, but the system is not then fully regenerative and power is wasted in heat. This heat would be excessive in a large MBT (Main Battle Tank) and hence the technique is only used on smaller modern vehicles such as the American MLI3 Armoured Personnel Carrier. Another disadvantage is that the tank can steer itself, asin ease 2 above. (4) Geared Steering One way of steering a tracked vehicle is to have independent gearboxes, one for each track. Two 8speed gearboxes would therefore allow at least seven different turning radii, or even more ifthe gear ratios were not exact, rultiples of each other. This is «nice idea, in theory, but in ConstauctoR guanrEmLTFig.2. "Maybach* Double Differential ‘Steering System H practice two multi-geared bores consume vast amounts of space and weight, so the system never got past the experimental stage back in the 1930's, (9 "Maybach" Double Ditferer erin ‘This sytem was used in the German WW2 PzKw V Panther tank and is shown in Fig.. As can be seen, two drives are used to effect steering, one from the usual output from the main gearbox and one from its input. The principle is very clever. The input to the main gearbox is used to give a constant speed drive, independent of whatever gear one is in, For travelling straight ahead the two brakes are applied and hence the cages of both epicyclics are held stationary and the drive passes straight through these epicytics and cout to the tracks, To steer, one cage is forced to rotate at constant speed, being driven via the clutch from the steering drive (input to main gearbox). The track corresponding to the clutch is therefore forced to rotate at ‘a slower speed than the other by virtue of the differential action in the epicyclic. The Panther had a 7-speed gearbox s0 therefore had soven turning radii, one for each gear. ‘The average speed is not maintained when steering as one track slows down and the other does not speed up. As the Germans knew they could out-gun anyone else T don't suppose that worried them very much! ‘As you are probably a little confused about how the steering works, let me take a hypothetical example. ‘Assume that for ist gear the (wo track outputs are at 10 ‘pm, the same as the main drive from the output of the gearbox. In top gear they are 100 rpm and for the other five speeds somewhere in between. The steting drive isso geared that when one apples it to the left track via the clutch, the left epicyctc sums the steering drive (at - 10 rpm) and the main drive (at 10 rpm) to give zero for the left track. The right track continues at 10 rpm. If one selects top gear now, the main drive is at 100 rpm and so cone gets 90 rpm for the let track and 100 for the right fone. This would clearly give a shallow turn. For the other gears the radius of turn gets progressively smalls, the lower the gear. (© Double Differential Steering ‘As mentioned above, the Maybach system does not allow for constant travelling speed. A simple alteration docs though. The arrangement is shown in Fig, 3. Here an extra idler gear is used to link the two epicyclics in such a manner that if the steering drive is applied, via one of the steering clutches, then one differential adds the steering drive and the other subtracts it, The two sun wheels turn in opposite directions and depending upon the direction and speed of the main drive, the track speeds can be set to anything from -10 to +110 rpm, to use the figures from above. Notice I used -10 rpm. This is obtained by isconnecting the main drive, ie. putting the clutch out, ‘and the steering box adds and subtracts the constant over September 1908 aue From, ave FROM | pi J = iP = We. 4 ipl Dita ourrur oun Steering System st at steering drive from zero rpm, giving +10 and -10 rpm. The vehicle thus turns on a sixpence. There isa sight tendency for the steering drive cross shaft to rotate when both steering clutches are disengaged, via back-driving from the tracks. This leads to the tank steering itself. Same old problem! The cure isto lock the steering cross drive. This is a must if being modelled in Meccano. ‘This arrangement was designed in 1928, by a Major Wilson and is still in use in the American M6OA1 MBT in a form called the Allison Cross Drive. It was also used in conjunction with a 7-speed Maybach gearbox in the Brit cruiser A1 of early WW2 and is the forerunner to all modern day tank transmissions. It is also used with a Hydrostatic drive instead of steering clutches, in the Swiss S tank, This tank does not have a turret and the gun sticks ut ofthe front of the tank. Gum laying is achieved by very fine movements of the tracks, so this shows how manoeuvrable a tank is when these types of steering system are used, (niriple Ditferential Steering. ‘This sytem is extremely similar to the double differential uur anwan wre urur sun. wr sunneek == me fu ssn ean aan sans, system. It has been found that in practice it is easier to manufacture and maintain a band brake than an entire clutch assembly. I think this is the case in Meccano as welll The triple differential technique replaces two steering clutches with two steering brakes. That is the only ‘operating difference. An example of this is shown in Fig. 4. This arrangement has been used on all UK MBT's since 1944, That may not be strictly true - Pm not sure what is in the Challenger, I think itis still triple differential plus a hydraulic torque converter. It is also used in the French ‘AMX30 MBT. The earliest triple differential unit was the Merrtt-Brown in the A22 Churchill in 1941 and then it became standard for the Centaur, Cromwell, Comet, Centurion and Conqueror. In this form it consisted of a combined gearbox and steering gear all in one housing. ‘The number of gears started off at four forward and one reverse, ending up at five forward and two reverse. The next step on was the development of fully epicycic ‘gearboxes and the TIN10 was formed. That grew to become the now standard TNI2 as fited to Chieftain. This has six forward and three reverse speeds. There is also a centrifugal clutch for the main connection to the engine. A. schematic of the TN12 is shown in Fig. 5, just to give an idea of how to make a neat bit of mechanics. urea suv coos ue == Sy Fig. 5 The TN12 box used in the Chieftain 48 Cowermeron guanTERLY