Computer methods in the study of a historical combat vehicle

The wheel is an invention that does not exist in nature and it was only thanks to humans that it was invented and is used by them. The first mentions of the use of the wheel by the Sumerians date back to 3000 BC.

Sumerian wheels with dowels were invented and used in their combat vehicles around 2900 BC. The material used in the construction of the wheel and other elements of the Sumerian combat vehicle was hardwood, for the joining of which wooden dowels were also used. In the initial phase of modeling the combat vehicle, reverse engineering techniques were used, which include computer image analysis (CIA). The material subjected to CIA was a photograph of a wooden box measuring 21.59 x 49.53 cm, called “the Standard of Ur”, depicting war scenes on one side, where we can admire the construction of historical combat vehicles. Today’s technology allows for the reconstruction of a combat chariot model in a three-dimensional CAD environment, as well as performing analyses of the behavior of the structure and the materials used under given conditions simulating reality. Analyses carried out in CAE programs provide results in the form of maps illustrating the distribution of stresses, strains, and displacements in the studied structure.

Combat vehicle, Sumerians, three-dimensional model, computer-aided design, 3D, modeling, computer simulation, reverse engineering. – PDF file for download