Pot hole testing
With the severe cold and icy conditions we now experience in the UK, pot holes and bad road surface conditions continue to cause more problems. Many of the vehicles in the UK have suffered some form of suspension damage from the pot holes and damaged road surfaces left by freezing conditions during the winter months.
For a while now Ford has been focussing its suspension tests on pot hole damage limitation and Ford has confirmed it will continue to do this even though the UK government has pledged funds to help fix UK roads.
Ford carries out tests on its chassis and suspension systems at Dunton Technical Centre and Lommel Proving Ground, Belgium. These tests include running real-world road simulations, high-tech data acquisition and thousands of miles of surface testing to ensure it’s personal and Ford contract hire customers are not blighted by suspension damage caused by pot holes in the future.
Simon Mooney, test engineer, Dunton Technical Centre, said: “The challenge for the suspension system comes when it exits the pothole – it can be like hitting a kerbstone. We test all the wheel and tyre sizes that are fitted to the production cars so we know they can cope.”
At the testing ground Ford uses high-tech equipment to record the load and strain placed upon suspension components. This equipment is fitted ‘Road Load Data Acquisition’ vehicles which cost up to £250,000 per corner, and combines with the sophisticated data recording and processing equipment inside the car to make such vehicles worth more than £1.5 million.
Simon Money also added, “We use specially instrumented wheels on the car which measure the load in three directions. On some vehicles there are various sensors totalling some 200 extra channels through which to get the data.”
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