Multi Purpose Drive Train Road Test Simulation System

This article describes the design and manufacturing of a subscale model of a multipurpose simulator which enables the user to perform costly road tests in lab. The simulator comprises of two AC servo machines, one acting as internal combustion engine and the other acting for road loads. The engine side drive can be programmed to simulate the exact performance curves of any desired engine and to even exert negative load similar to an engine during vehicle coasting with no gas input. The road side drive can also be programmed to simulate car inertia as well as road resistances such as positive or negative slopes, air drag and wind in different directions, tire resistances, and climatic road condition changes. The gear box to be tested, manual or automatic, can be installed between the two drives to complete the drive train. The system has the power saver feature, returning the brake power of the road side drive to electrical grid. A user friendly HMI enables the operator to do the adjustments and programming prior to the test and to customize the engine and the road according to the desired test. The used programming functions are very powerful and easy to use. During the test the operator can apply gas, brake and if necessary clutch manually or through the test program. All the test data is recorded during the test by the simulator data acquisition system for further analysis. This simulator can perform long term road tests bearing heavy cost and manpower on car companies. It is also capable of measuring drive train efficiency, observing speed and load related actions of automatic transmission, pre evaluation of development ideas and road testing engine and gearbox replacements for existing platforms. A 1:50 scale, but full feature, of the system was built and successfully tested for design assessment and evaluation.