Evaluation of Boundary Conditions in Chassis Test Rig.

Sammanfattning: Trucks are constantly developed in order to achieve new goals in terms of demands from the customers and regulation. In order to develop the truck chassis to withstand the load, different tests are conducted and among those life time testing. At Scania, service life of frames and suspensions is tested using a purpose built test rig known as Ramriggen. The test rig subjects the frame to a quasi-static load created of measurements from a test track. The current rig for frame testing has boundary conditions that distribute the loads unevenly within the chassis, especially for trucks with added frame twisting. In the current rig, the front axle load is absorbed solely by the engine and the frame twisting is inserted by a cradle. With increased axle load the error in vertical loading is also increased and with the current configuration for frame twisting, unexpected cracks in the frame has been observed. In order to improve the emulation of a real truck the boundary conditions requires development. The purpose of this study is to compare different boundary conditions at the front of the truck. An investigation of how new boundary conditions at the front of truck can redistribute the loads has been conducted. This investigation utilized FEM as a tool and method to reach the end results. In order to compare different boundary conditions two synthetic load cases were defined from measurements conducted on a truck at a test track. The two load cases consisted of a vertical load and two cases of frame twisting. This investigation resulted in new boundary conditions for a concept test rig. The new boundary conditions consist of a cab mock-up that is able to absorb vertical load and induce frame twisting. The result of the investigation of the two load cases shows that the engine beam is overloaded at most 40% and the base mount with 150% with the current boundary conditions compared with the new suggested concept.