It does this by ‘steering’ the tyre relative to a rolling road and measuring the resulting cornering force produced.
Traditionally, the steering action has been completed incrementally by manually adjusting the tyre slip angle, an arduous and time-consuming activity. The new linear actuator, provided by LG Motion, allows for this steering action to be completed automatically, following the pre-programmed commands of the user.
This dramatically increases the amount of data that can be extracted from the rig in a given test period. This is also allows for far more accurate position control than what can be achieved ‘by eye’, reducing experimental uncertainties.
The actuator was used for the 2014 winter tyre tests, with the slip angle being adjusted by rotating the actuator motor by hand to achieve the required actuator position.