Vehicle Suspension Measurement Facility (VSMF)

The VSMF product line has expanded over the years with configurations to accommodate everything from smaller off-road vehicles, passenger vehicles, large commercial and military vehicles, and anything in between. VSMF test facilities range from 450 to 45,000 kg maximum capacities. The suspension parameter measurement system has been designed and built for the purpose of measuring displacements and forces acting on the road wheels of a vehicle. These displacements and forces may be due to movement of the vehicle body (kinematic), forces occurring in the plane of the road (compliance), or due to movement of the steering wheel (steering).The system tests the entire vehicle as a unit and provides a “black box” determination of the suspension characteristics in terms of input/output relationships. This data can then be used in the simulation of the performance of light cars and trucks. In 2012, S-E-A designed and built the Suspension Parameter Identification Device and Evaluation Rig (SPIDER) and delivered it to the U.S. Army’s Tank Automotive Command (TACOM). The SPIDER is designed to measure suspension and steering system characteristics of large commercial and military vehicles weighing up to 100,000 lb. This is a facility used to measure quasi-static suspension and steering system properties as well as tire vertical static stiffness. The machine operates by holding the vehicle body nominally fixed while hydraulic cylinders move an “axle frame” in bounce or roll under each axle being tested. The axle frame holds wheel pads (representing the ground plane) for each wheel.