TIRE TESTING SOLUTIONS
Link Engineering Company and Calspan have recently entered a strategic partnership, combining Calspan’s engineering know-how and experience in creating efficient data collection tools with LINK’s ability to design and manufacture machinery. This partnership will open the door for the innovation of new equipment, including the below jointly designed machines. Learn more about the partnership here.
321 Flat Belt Machine
The 321 Flat-Belt Machine supplies a flexible and efficient platform for tire performance characterization on a flat belt. The system combines advanced technology with proven hardware and software, resulting in dependable, repeatable, and accurate testing in support of the tire development process. The unique design offers robustness and ease of service. The machine layout leaves critical components accessible and emphasizes reusing components so that spare parts can be kept on hand, reducing down time.
Key Features
LINK’s 321 Flat-Belt Machine not only conducts standard force and moment tests, but it can also replicate the motion of the tire caused by suspension geometries. Compared to existing flat-belt designs, the LINK 321 Flat-Belt Machine brings three unique aspects:
- A hexapod tire positioning mechanism
- An off-board motor
- The capability for static stiffness measurements
All-in-One Tire Drum
The All-In-One drum machine is designed as the perfect middle-ground, offering reliable and accurate data for any type of drum test, all on one machine. The All-In-One drum machine utilizes a precision drum roadway and two purpose-built stations for ultimate accuracy and reliability:
Station 1 includes a strain gauge head with dynamic slip and camber degrees of freedom.
Station 2 utilizes a piezoelectric head mounted on an exceptionally stiff, lockable tailstock with zero slip angle and zero camber angle. This station is designed to have a high natural frequency.
Common Tests
- Rolling Resistance
- Noise, Vibration and Harshness, with optional anechoic chamber
- High Speed Uniformity
- Cleat Testing – necessary for the creation of tire models such as FTire, MF Swift, etc.
- Durability
- Force & Moment
- Wear simulation, including convoy playback capabilities
Tire NVH Chassis Dynamometer
The Model 4900 NVH 2-to-4-Wheel Drive Tire Chassis Dynamometer has capability for tire noise and vibration testing of passenger or commercial vehicles in a controlled laboratory environment. Tire noise has always been important, but with the advent of electric vehicles, tire noise is more important than ever. LINK's innovative design is catered towards the tire supplier by designing for NVH optimization and by providing unique features for tire development and testing. The dynamometer controls are designed to enable close correlation with existing certification test protocols, such as ISO-362, Europe pass-by noise (UN R51-03), GB/T 32789, ISO/DIS 20908, and other tire industry standards.
- Rolling Roadwheel Design / Road Surface Shells
- Corner Loading Tailstock
- Machine Isolation
- Environmental Conditioning
- Tire Burst Detection
- Speed Profile Simulation (Duty Cycle)
