Our testing experts are experienced engineers in planning, developing and building tailored test beds for a wide variety of applications.
Benefits
- Individual design of non-standard test beds for maximum performance
- High-performance and future-oriented solutions from the future vehicle technologies specialists at VIRTUAL VEHICLE
Beside the construction of non-standard testbeds our core competences covers:
- Realization of measurements set-ups and monitoring systems
- Software development and implementation of mathematical methods
- Development of data acquisition systems
Research Test Benches Portfolio
Thermal-Runaway Test Bench
Batteries play an ever-increasing role in the vehicle development. Therefore, it is important to understand the potential risks involved with these devices. At this test bench we can investigate the thermal runaway characteristics of different types of batteries at different conditions.
Typical Applications
- Overheating or overcharge
- Detailed thermal analysis
- Vent gas amount and release-rate
- Propagation tests
Key parameters
- Reactor for cell-configurations of up to 500 Wh
- Reactor volume: 120 l
- FTIR and GC to measure gas compostition
Battery Test Bench
The battery tests are performed either on a complete battery — called a pack — or on one or more cells that make up the battery. Simulating and integrating models therefore allows the cell’s full environment to be considered.
Typical applications
- Cycling capabilities on cell level
- Thermal and mechanical validation and verification
- Different cell designs
- Life cycle
- For ageing or characterization tests of lithium-ion cell scale assurance
Key parameters
- Cell cycling equipment with temperature overlay
- Up to 120 single cell channels, up to 5 Volts each
- Covering 300Amps down to 5 Amps
- Up to 10 different temperatures independently
SCR Test Bench
SCR is one of the technologies that is able to help flattening nitrogen oxide emissions. It injects a mixture of water and urea (AdBlue) into the exhaust tract. This reduces the NOx share in exhaust fumes. VIRTUAL VEHICLE engineered a SCR test bed that can measure remains and the conversion rate of the selective catalytic reduction.
Typical applications
- Investigation on exhaust gas aftertreatment with selective catalytic reduction
- Spatially and temporally highly resolved gas distribution
- Optimization of SCR injectors and mixing units.
- Validation of SCR-CFD-models
Key parameters
- Inside the test bench a 100 m/s fast and 500 °C hot stream of air is used to determine mass, dimensions and thickness of remains over a period of time.
Climatic Chambers
The climatic chamber offers the possibility for testing the aerodynamical and thermodynamical behaviour of air conditioning and heat pumping systems and their components. Furthermore, the design allows calorimetric measurements.
Typical applications
- HVAC system tests
- Measurement of cooling packages
- Investigation of boiling flow in the cooling cycle
Key parameters
- Temperature range from -20°C to +60°C
- R744, compressor, evaporator, condenser
- Several refrigerants (CO2, R134a)
- Steady state and transient conditions
Multi-Axis Vibration Testing
Multi-axis vibration testing improves test efficiency and increases test confidence by applying realistic vibration environments. Therefore we develop NVH tests to bring together the requirements of OEM and supplier. Multi-axis NVH component testing gives a good prediction of the perception in real vehicle. Component non-linearity and complex motions in real vehicle can be assed and gives input to NVH simulation model.
Typical applications
- Characterization of component NVH behavior
- Lifetime and Durability Testing
- Verification of NVH Simulation model
Engine Friction Test Bench
FRIDA is the in-house developed friction dynamometer test bench for engines that allows in an economical way to measure highly accurately the friction power losses in engines for all operating conditions of interest (load and speed).
In addition to its superior accuracy, it further allows to determine also the friction power losses of the subsystems piston assembly, journal bearings of the crank train and the valve train for these operating conditions.
Typical applications
- Engine investigations without engine tear-down
- Virtual friction strip-down from idle to full load engine operation
- For piston assembly, crank train journal bearings and valve train
- Highly accurate (ultra) low viscosity oil benchmarks
- Reliable evaluation of engine optimizations
Key parameters
- Highly accurate engine friction testing under realistic operating
- Conditions of any engine load from idle to full load operation possible
- System excellent reproducibility of results
More information about FRIDA can be found >> HERE
Cooling Component Test Bench
The heat rejection and inner pressure loss of radiators and charge air coolers can be measured on the cooling component test bed. The key parameters are:
Radiators:
- Coolant volume flow: 180 l/min
- Inner pressure loss: 1 bar
- Heating Power: 100 kW
Charge air coolers:
- Mass flow: 1200 kg/h
- Heating Power: 100 kW
- Pressure level: up to 3 bara
Wind Tunnel
The wind tunnel offers a wide range of applications, like testing of cooling packages and determination of characteristic curves of fans, as well as aerodynamic investigations of the vehicle front end or other components by means of Laser-Doppler-Anemometry (LDA). Besides the mentioned investigations for the automotive field, it is also possible to conduct measurements, for instance, to determine the statical and dynamical behavior of bridge models.
Typical applications
- Testing of cooling packages
- Aerodynamic investigation of the vehicle front end or other components
- Statical and dynamical behavior of bridge models
- Real life measurements of aerodynamic coefficients
Key parameters
- Air mass flow: 3 kg/s at a pressure drop of 3000 Pa
- Additional heating of 30 kW
- Excellent flow quality