Fatigue Testing Services

Fatigue Testing from Component to Full Vehicle

The fatigue testing services in St. Valentin, Austria, offer a wide range of testing capabilities starting from small material specimen tests up to heavy duty commercial vehicle applications.

Our holistic approach in terms of collaboration of various services like simulation and testing allows us to gain the maximum added value for our customers. Material testing means much more than just evaluating fatigue life.

It is material analysis, method development and finally the derivation of innovative testing solutions. By doing so we can use FEM and MBS input data to tailor our test setups, reduce active channels by generating equivalent loads and determine internal forces for reduced hardware complexity. It is equally important to generate a loop from testing to simulation to sharpen simulation models and furthermore improve future development cycles. Therefore, the whole workflow from sensor application, load calibration, load spectrum generation, virtual iteration and finally the derivation of equivalent loads can be implemented.

After the derivation of appropriate loading conditions and specially tailored test rig concepts, single parts or whole devices may be loaded with up to 40 actuators simultaneously. Finally, structures and components from interest can be investigated by our NDT experts, in order to evaluate the most critically stressed regions regarding their characteristics after and during fatigue testing.

Equipment & Infrastructure

Equipment

  • 250 servohydraulic actuators​
  • Forces between 2,5kN and 500kN​
  • Frequency up to 100Hz​
  • Stroke up to 500mm​
  • Up to 30 actuators can be controlled simultaneously​
  • 14 MTS Multichannel Controller Systems​
  • MTS - RPC Pro​
  • FEMFAT LAB​
  • > 40 measurement amplifiers with over 600 measurement channels

Infrastructure

  • 9 foundations (up to 500tons)​
  • Max. weight of specimen 50tons (12mx7m)​
  • Total area 2.344m²​
  • Testing area  383m²​
  • Installed el. power (770kW + 1280kW (max 2.05MW))​
  • Installed cooling power (152kW + 240kW)​
  • Flexible modular test rig system​
  • Up to 8 load frames (50kN – 500kN max. 1000°C)​
  • Resonance test bench (150kN PTP)​
  • Electrodynamic Shaker (125kN, 1200x1200mm)

Examples of our Testing Services

Axle Test Benches

Our 6DOF/12 channel axle test benches for a wide range of vehicles realistically display the acting loads on chassis components during operation. In addition, environmental influences such as thermal and corrosive effects can be superimposed to the mechanical loads. Moreover, active components can be integrated into the test setup.

Vibration Tests for Commercial Vehicle​

Our vibration test benches for heavy duty vehicles realistically depict the accelerations of the frame, cabin and add-on parts, with in operating field-generated or numerically simulated load tracks, on both HV battery- and conventional exhaust gas systems.​

Battery Testing

With our 6DOF Vibration Testrigs we test HV battery systems and their vehicle integration components for commercial as well as passenger vehicles. When testing fatigue of HV systems, our focus is dedicated to safety.

Special Applications

Due to the high agility of our test bench technology, we are able to conduct tests depending on special customer requirements and vehicle classes in load ranges from single Newtons up to 500kN.

4 Poster Testrig

With our 4 poster testrig for LCVs as well as passenger cars we are able to support a variety of test and measurement scenarios for overall vehicles. The track width as well as the wheelbase if fully adaptable and the whole testrig setup can be tailored to specific needs. With over 40 measurement amplifiers nearly all desired data can be recorded.

Electro-Dynamic Shaker

With our 125kN electrodynamic shaker we test your eDrive systems and all mechatronic components as well as battery cells according to all relevant specifications. The systems are fully integrated and driven actively on the rig.

Complete Vehicle Testing

With our Complete Vehicle Testrig we are covering a range from sportscars to LCV. We offer a holistic test approach for both structurally validating chassis components, systems as well as body structures and add-on parts (e.g. roof racks).​

Material Tests

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Evaluation of base material properties as well as properties of joints (weld, bond, ...) like
  • Tensile tests
  • Plastic deformation
  • Low- and High Cycle Fatigue
  • High temperature behavior (<1000°C)

Generation of material models for FEMFAT and FEMFAT WELD database.

Test Bench

  • 4 load frames (uniaxial tension/compression)​
  • 1 torsional load frame​
  • 1 bending load frame​
  • 1 125kN resonance test bench

Test Bench Equipment

  • 3 heat chambers​
  • 1 extensometer (room temperature)​
  • 1 extensometer (high temperature)​
  • Variable strain gage measurement (control and calibration)​
  • Specimen temperature measurement (control and calibration)​
  • MATPRO (statistical analysis and reporting)​

Load Data Generation & Measurement Services

The whole workflow from sensor application, load calibration, load spectrum generation, virtual iteration and finally the derivation of equivalent loads can be implemented.

The spectrum of our measurement services goes from standard load data measurements (strain, acceleration, displacement) to highly complex drivetrain efficiency measurements using telemetry equipment. Components are calibrated in-house for load data generation for internal as well as an external services. FEMFAT LAB is used to support the complete workflow of data generation and processing.

Interested in our fatigue testing services?

Please feel free to contact our team of experts regarding more information or support.

 

Daniel Übellacker

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Senior Manager, Fatigue Testing

Mail​​​​​​​LinkedIn

 

Johann Traunbauer

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Senior Expert, Fatigue Testing

Mail​​​​​​​LinkedIn