The Doriot Climatic Chambers (DCCs) are a pair of very large, highly specialized wind tunnels/

environmental chamber An environmental chamber, also called a climatic chamber or climate chamber, is an enclosure used to test the effects of specified environmental conditions on biological items, industrial products, materials, and electronic devices and components ...

s located at the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

’s Soldier Systems Center (SSC) in

Natick, Massachusetts Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...

. Built in 1952, the Chambers are a unique facility, capable of simulating an extreme range of global weather conditions for the testing of both the physical properties of military equipment and the physiology and adaptations of human subjects. A variety of tenants utilize the DCCs, which are operated by the

U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command The Combat Capabilities Development Command, (DEVCOM, aka CCDC) (formerly the United States Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM)) is a subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command. RDECOM was tasked with "creating, ...

(RDECOM).

History

The DCCs were constructed from 1952 to 1954 at the time of the founding of what is now the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) and Center. At a rededication ceremony on 24 August 1994, the facility was named for

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

Georges F. Doriot (1899–1987), a French-American who, during World War II, worked with a large staff in the

Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of Quartermaster Corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στ� ...

to develop, test and quickly field improved clothing and equipment for the U.S. soldier. A major renovation was completed in 1996.

Research

Users

A number of tenants of the SSC utilize the DCCs including

USARIEM The U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) is the U.S Army’s main institution and facility for military environmental medicine and exercise physiology research. It is located at Natick, Massachusetts, within the U. ...

, the NCTRF, and the

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Equipment testing

Examples of military equipment evaluated at the DCC include tents, parachutes, heaters, airbeams, medical devices and wild mills. The heat transfer properties of a wide range of new protective military clothing are tested at the DCC. Constant control of temperature (to within +/- 1 °F) is possible with simultaneous control of both wind and humidity. (Other chambers in the world have only two-environmental-parameter capability, making the DCCs unique.) External observer and test monitoring areas have electronic data acquisition systems to record a variety of testing parameters and provide customized plotting, graphing and printouts.

Human research

. The DCCs are man-rated for human safety. Human research in the DCC is aimed at the prevention of injuries and the minimizing of performance decrements in order to enhance overall operational effectiveness. The Chambers simulate types of environmental conditions that soldiers may encounter in the course of their real world duties. Soldier (and civilian) volunteers walk or run on

treadmill A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type o ...

s to simulate a variety of work rates at different environmental extremes. Each chamber has two 5-person treadmills that can operate up to at a 12% grade. A facility kitchen prepares meals to test the effects of nutrition on physical performance. The DCCs include a dormitory facility for

sleep studies A sleep study is a test that records the activity of the body during sleep. There are five main types of sleep studies that use different methods to test for different sleep characteristics and disorders. These include simple sleep studies, polysom ...

as well as dressing rooms, showers and laundering facilities which support prolonged live-in studies.

Specifications and capabilities

The dimensions of each of the two wind tunnels (Tropic Wind Tunnel and Arctic Wind Tunnel) are 60 by 10 by . Equipment scheduled for testing enters the tunnels via high by wide doors. In addition, chambers of 30 by 18 by occupy the area at the back of each tunnel.

Tropic Wind Tunnel

* -18 °C to 74 °C (0 °F to 165 °F) * 10-90% relative humidity * Simulated rain up to 4 inches/hour * Simulated wind up to * Solar loading capability

Arctic Wind Tunnel

* -57 °C to 49 °C (-70 °F to 120 °F) * 10-90% relative humidity * Simulated rain up to 4 inches/hour * Simulated wind up to * Solar loading capability

Tropic Conditioning Room

* Dimensions: 25 by 15 by * 4 °C to 65 °C (40 °F to 150 °F) * 10-90% relative humidity above

Arctic Conditioning Room

* Dimensions: 25 by 15 by * -45 °C to 21 °C (-50 °F to 70 °F)

References

*Earls, Alan R., (2005) ''U.S. Army Natick Laboratories: The Science Behind the Soldier'' (Series: Images of America), Arcadia Publishing. (Includes photos of the construction of DCCs.) *''This article contains information that originally came from US Government publications and websites and is in the public domain.''

External links

DCCs page at the NSC Website
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Research installations of the United States Army Military medicine in the United States Natick, Massachusetts