WEST POINT, N.Y. -- All U.S. Military Academy academic departments showcased the intellectual prowess and excellence demonstrated by Firstie cadets during the 26th annual USMA Projects Day Research Symposium on April 24 throughout West Point.
As the cadets presented their research efforts via independent study, capstone design, thesis defense, senior seminar, Academic Individual Advanced Development (AIAD) experiences and course projects, it touted to the visitors from Army research centers, commands and industry leaders of the cerebral asset that cadets and faculty offer to the Department of Defense, academia and industry.
One of this year’s highlighted projects was the “All-Terrain Arctic Anchor” led by the cadet team of Class of 2025 Cadets Christian Bault, Nicholas Buffardi and Liam McCarthy and advised by Dr. Gregory Freisinger, associate professor in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering.
The project is sponsored by DEVCOM Soldier Center in Natick, Massachusetts, with Connie Miles-Patrick and Karen Scagnelli of DEVCOM working to support the group’s needs for positive project results.
This is the second year that capstone project cadets have participated in this endeavor. The purpose of the project is to protect Soldiers if they need medical assistance or have to do maintenance to vehicles in the Arctic conditions.
The problem the cadets were looking to solve was developing a device for anchoring a tent in expeditionary Arctic environments. The device needs to be portable, user-friendly, sturdy, serviceable and cost-effective.
The device must be faster than a stake to assemble or anchor while being able to withstand steady winds up to 55 mph and gusts up to 65 mph, and function effectively in temperatures as low as -60 F, on soil, ice or snow.
The cadets began working through the engineering design process this fall, ultimately devising and testing their prototype design in the Arctic.
With the problem of figuring out a design that can withstand the extreme nature of arctic conditions, the cadets produced the All-Terrain Arctic Anchor that includes MOLLE Webbing, grommets, a buckle to help wrap up the device, and spikes made from mending plates.
As they tested the design, they looked at the relationship between the tent line angle and the tension force required to pull out the anchor, Buffardi said. In addition, he said they observed the relationship between the total time the anchor is buried in snow and the tension force required to pull out the anchor.
Buffardi also emphasized that their major design consideration was to reduce the assembly time while maintaining the strength of the anchor.
“This is a multi-faceted device as is the material itself,” McCarthy said. “Traditionally, materials can get really brittle at that temperature, so they’re prone to breaking. So, we wanted to design something that could withstand the temperature, be durable and functional.”
Buffardi also mentioned the necessity for dexterity because you need extreme cold weather gloves to work in that environment to prevent frostbite, which makes it hard to manipulate smaller items. This includes challenges using traditional steel tent stakes, which are often difficult to hammer into artic soil or ice.
Another consideration that is often overlooked, is the noise associated with tent anchoring systems.
“It’s super loud to hammer stakes (in the Arctic), especially in an operational environment, and you don’t want to increase your noise footprint – which could alert adversaries of your position,” Bault revealed.
The cadets talked to Canadian Rangers, who are a sub-component of the Canadian Army Forces reserves. They provide military presence in remote, isolated and sparsely populated regions and provide expertise on those areas and operating conditions.
Talking with the Canadian Rangers, some of whom are Inuit who live in the high north Arctic region, they mentioned noise was a factor because “You can hear somebody coughing from hundreds of meters away in the Arctic because of how heavy the air is – it just travels,” Buffardi added.
During the initial stages of the engineering design process, the cadet team initially traveled to DEVCOM’s Natick location to do initial testing in its cold chamber and understand the challenges working in severe cold.
In the spring, the group traveled to Inuvik, Canada, to take part in Operation Nanook to test their design in authentic arctic conditions.
“The cadets worked through the engineering design process, by first trying to understand the problem needing to be solved,” Freisinger explained. “This included background research, talking to experts, looking into current solutions and gaps in capabilities. They then developed design characteristics, conducted engineering analysis and created different alternative solutions. These were briefed to the sponsors to get their feedback and, ultimately, refined to produce the best solution.”
The cadets worked closely with Maj. Mathew Hefner, senior advisor for Arctic Operations for Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire, who was the U.S. liaison to Operation Nanook.
“It was a multinational operation charged with testing and evaluating new equipment and technology in an Arctic expedition,” Freisinger stated.
The cadets were there during the acclimation phase as the base camp was setting up and the Rangers were sent out to recon the route and identify areas where aircraft can land on the sea ice.
They mingled with several science and technology-developing leaders who were doing their own various forms of research ranging from remote sensing to human performance in extreme cold weather.
As for the design and how it worked in the intended environment, the cadets purposely made their design modular before the trip.
“We did that so we could take off the spikes, try different things, fill it or make sure it was not filled,” Buffardi said on the myriad of ways to use their design that included filling the bag with snow if it wasn’t fully anchored into the ground. “Once we got back, we were able to change some things without changing the whole design. All we had to do is attach one strap that allowed to add a dead man anchor.”
They modified how they used the design from the field experience and results of their engineering testing.
“We weren’t intending to fully bury the prototype,” Bault stated. “We found that by burying it … and leaving it for an extended period of time, it drastically increased the load-bearing capabilities of the prototype due to the dead man anchor effect of burying the prototype.”
The design of their anchor is meant for an expeditionary CCP Medical Tent, but it is not meant to provide anchoring for long-term shelter.
“It’s for a short-term shelter to provide casualty care or maintenance on a vehicle,” Buffardi explained. “That’s one of the greatest risks in the Arctic is if you take a casualty, exposing them to the extreme elements, it would be detrimental to them and could lead to further injury.”
While the design has different capabilities where it can be buried, or kept on the surface where snow can be placed inside the bag, the data they accumulated will be helpful for the future of the design and any potential modifications.
From their conclusions, the anchor is strongest when buried and the load capacity increases over time. It was difficult handling the All-Terrain Arctic Anchor with large gloves, but the device was effective on varying surfaces.
While the cadets also offered changes that can be made for future cadets working on this project, there was one lasting idea of why this project is important.
“The Arctic Anchoring project is great because it is focused on protecting Soldiers in the Arctic,” Buffardi concluded. “There is a major gap currently in our ability to fight in arctic environments, and identifying ways to quickly treat casualties is necessary to improve our capability.”
This project is part of West Point's 26th annual Projects Day Research Symposium that showcases more than 350 cadet-led research projects. Learn more about the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at https://bit.ly/WP_CME and check out more project features at https://www.westpoint.edu/werx.
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