BPW - Quality Is Having An In-House Test Department
Quality is having safety and driving comfort optimised by an in-house test department
The BPW Test Department is responsible for the system and component testing for BPW's entire chassis and suspension range, with the focus on chassis and suspen-sion technology for towed vehicles. To this end, a multiplicity of test stands and vari-ous test vehicles are used to put components under stress, measure physical vari-ables and assess the suitability of new chassis and suspension components.
In brake testing, sophisticated test equipment is used to ascertain the efficiency and behaviour of wheel brake systems and simulate real-life situations, such as long downhill stretches with high brake temperatures, full brake application, overloading and effectiveness in wet conditions. The test lab activities, on the other hand, are focused on verifying the structural durability of components under dynamic stress - vibration, in other words BPW's axle, suspension and brake components have to go through several hundred thousand vibratory cycles before being approved for series production. Service life, as well as failures in test operation as result of fatigue, wear or corrosion are examined thoroughly to en-sure that the causes are fully taken into account in the continuous product optimisa-tion process.
Through extensive field trials, the operating loads are ascertained both in on-road and off-road conditions, and also on test tracks (see photo below of a caravan equipped with a special measuring wheel for measuring wheel forces - cutting-edge BPW measure-ment technology from the automotive industry). 
The data gathered in this way is then used as the basis for the test programs carried out using the equipment re-ferred to above.
In addition to this, BPW's road trial unit also carries out real-life service durability tests as well as performance tests on test tracks. Such tests enable, for example, critical speed levels to be determined to within +/- 2 km/h. These are the speeds at which tractor-trailer combinations start to vibrate and sway. This means that the test combination has to gather momentum in the steep curve of the test track in order to determine the limits on the subsequent straights. 
Appropriate trials enable BPW to give a considered opinion on the directional stability of a caravan. The so-called moment of yaw inertia has a direct influence on the critical speed.
To enable correct dimensioning of components, it is first necessary to know the ef-fective load to which they are subjected. To this end, BPW carries out expansion tests and converts the resultant values into tension factors. For this purpose the tow-ing vehicle is equipped with a measuring computer for processing the measured data during test runs.
The designers can then use the tension data thus gathered to decide on the ideal component geometries and material for the requirements in question.
It would be completely wrong to let running gear components first mature - like bananas, so to speak - when they are in the customer's hands. It is with this in mind that BPW employs the very latest in test technology for development and testing. The result is perfected, customer orientated products.
Published: 15/06/2005
