Brake and pneumatic wheel performance assessment – A new test rig. (January 2020) - Cantoni, C.
Highlights: A pneumatic tyre is implemented into a dynamometric test rig for developing brakes. Forces acting at the ground/tyre interface are measured very accurately. The brake alone dissipates much less energy than the brake&wheel combination. The test rig comes with its virtual model for Industry 4.0 applications. The new test rig is suitable for Aerospace or Automotive applications. Abstract: A fully new test rig is presented for the assessment of the physical performance of a primary vehicle safety system, namely pneumatic wheel and brake. For the accurate design of vehicle brake system, the need is to study not only the brake, but the brake&wheel assembly. This implies the accurate measurement of forces and moments applied both at the brake and at the wheel. This is a relatively complex and never attempted task in the known literature. The new test rig can be used both in the automotive and in the aerospace sectors. The test rig is basically a dynamometer with an unreferenced architecture, given by a special arrangement of load cells. The test rig allows to measure, among other variables, the dissipated power at the brake and the dissipated power at the assembly composed by wheel and brake. The accurate modelling of the new test rig is performed, according to Industry 4.0 paradigms. Measurement uncertainties of the new test rig are analysed. Excellent accuracy is provided by the new test rig. The dynamometer has shown that the pneumatic wheel itself may dissipate up to 30% of the power dissipated by the brake. This unreferenced result is relevant in both the automotive and aerospace fields.