Zuverlässige und effiziente Erfassung der mehraxialen Fahrbetriebsbelastungen an PKW und LKW

The interaction of the dynamic forces and moments introduced into the rotating wheel when driving through bends, over potholes, accelerating and braking is of great importance for the design and validation process of a new car. Due to increasing requirements on the components, due to shorter developing time and because of the product reliability requirements a cost-effective, quick and accurate measurement of the forces under operational conditions is necessary for the automotive industry as well as for its suppliers, who are increasingly responsible for the development of their products. Instead of the instrumentation of suspension components as loads transducers, today measuring wheels or hubs are used which, however, are quite heavy, not very accurate and need elaborate calibrations and computations. With the newly developed VEhicle LOad Sensor (VELOS) these deficiencies are overcome. Due to the design a complete decoupling of the sensed force and moment components in the longitudin al lateral and vertical direction is possible. Examples of road load data acquisitions comparing the results from VELOS with those of axle transducers under different maneuvers are presented. The effect of the location of the sensor in the suspension system is demonstrated for driving over an obstacle. Influences on the measured forces by varying coordinate systems on the steer-axle due to cornering are discussed. The application of the measuring wheel for the multiaxial road load simulation in laboratories is proposed. Examples of VELOS for passenger and sports cars as well as trucks are described.