This case study on the Truck GSO Hood Test was kindly provided by our valued supplier DeweSoft. For more information on their products, contact us.
Introduction
A long-time customer of Dewesoft located in Greensboro, North Carolina. They are the Research and Development Center in the US for some well-known Truck brands. A leading group there is the Durability and Reliability team which conduct on Track and MTS Rig testing.
Field issues on the Hoods of some trucks had an issue with cracking in the Grill frame. The issue was determined to be to the grill diagonalisation. This resulted in visible cracking and damage to test articles. Dewesoft SIRIUS system was used for in-vehicle and MTS rig testing on potential solutions.
Measurement setup
ON TRACK TESTING DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM
- SBOX data processing computer and SSD data logger
- 4x SIRIUSi-8xSTG-L2B10F with Analog Output option
SENSORS
- Silicon Design Accelerometers
Firstly, SIRIUS systems are mounted in the passenger seat foot position. Secondly, it measured numerous sensors around the front end of the vehicle. Thirdly, the truck was taken out on the customer’s test track to experience the custom-made events to simulate field condition. Whereby, Dewesoft recorded all the data on board the SBOX computer module while on the track.
Measurement/analysis
Finally, after the Track data was collected and analysed it was exported from Dewesoft to the MTS Flex test control systems. Also a profile was created to focus on specific events to re-create the proper Unit failure conditions.
The Dewesoft SIRIUS system was used to provide additional signal conditioning to the MTS Flex test controller for the Rig testing of new revisions of the hood. This allows the same signal conditioning and A/D’s to be used to collect the data on the track as in the Rig test configuration.
Analysis
Using Dewesoft for quick visualisation of the data to confirm good data. Whereby, the data was then exported to the MTS software for the Rig collection. Then from there, third-party software was used for detailed analysis to derive a final design change.
Conclusion
Therefore, after extensive on-vehicle track testing and MTS rig testing the customer was able to redesign the hood structure to allow for this new grill shape. In Conclusion, it was determined that a thicker material in certain areas would allow countering the new vibration profile to prevent any cracking on production units