Performance based testing of suspension is in discussion as long as testing devices are on the market. It has to be remarked, that any kind of in vehicle testing is an evaluation of the performance of the complete suspension system. Shock absorbers are the most important part, but depending on construction of wheel alignment and design, other components also can have influence. So defects cannot be related in total to shock absorbers. But for safe driving suspension in total is relevant, so this is no restriction in the use of suspension testing to evaluate roadworthiness. All today’s testing devices are designed for passenger vehicles (with limited wheel load of max. 1 to). Focus of methods using performance based suspension testing is passenger cars (M1) and light goods vehicles (N1). Results out of investigations showed rates for suspension defects between 4 to more than 10% of all vehicles. Not all defects can be identified by visual inspections. Visual inspections are mainly focused on leakages, but another typical defect is lack of performance without leakages. (Author/publisher) For the final report and other Workpackages of the AUTOFORE project see http://cita.weborigin.be/AUTOFORE%5FStudy/map.htm
Abstract