Design of Test Facility for Suspension Systems of Armoured Fighting Vehicles

The Suspension systems of Armoured Fighting Vehicles demand non-linear spring characteristics, variable damping, good ride cum handling characteristics and excellent crew comfort. Mechanical System Laboratory of CVRDE has carried out extensive performance evaluation and endurance testing activity of the Hydro gas Suspension Systems in the existing test rig. The tests involve measurement of spring characteristics and damping behavior. The stringent design requirement of futuristic combat vehicles has called for severe test conditions, accurate simulation of terrain and extensive fatigue testing for design validation. Hence MSL has taken up the design of state of the art Suspension Test Facility to meet the test protocol. This facility is capable of conventional testing of components using constant frequency - constant amplitude, simulation of service loads, acceptance testing, durability and endurance testing with fixed end configuration. The facility consists of high performance hydraulic actuators, hydraulic power pack, control system and data acquisition system and it is proposed to house in a new Laboratory building. This paper briefly describes about the existing test facility, the performance evaluation criteria, and the design philosophy of new test facility, the infrastructure and its capabilities