Car body measurements: MAGNA STEYR relies on QuantumX
HBM became the supplier of choice for the complete measurement chain comprising displacement transducers, the QuantumX universal data acquisition system and catman®AP software.
MAGNA STEYR is the leading partner of automotive manufacturers worldwide (OEM) for the development and production of complete vehicles. Services provided range from the design phase through the development of modules and systems to the complete vehicle.
Many years of experience in complete vehicle engineering and product quality confirmed by several awards make MAGNA STEYR the number-one contact for OEMs worldwide. When choosing its partners MAGNA STEYR focuses on excellent quality and maximum reliability - and has therefore opted for QuantumX by HBM recently.
In Body & Trim Engineering, experienced engineers develop the car body, i.e. the largest component of a vehicle. To assure consistently high precision in this demanding development task, a powerful solution for future car body measurements had to be found. HBM became the supplier of choice for the complete measurement chain comprising displacement transducers, the QuantumX universal data acquisition system and catman®AP software.
Precise measurement for perfect vehicle design
Measuring car body stiffness is essential for verification and validation of vehicle designs. There are different kinds of tests, including global stiffness measurement for which test specifications are provided by the OEMs.
The car body is fixed at four points - in this case at the suspension turrets - on a measurement plate and subjected to predefined static torque through a hydraulically powered torsion beam.
Displacement measurement between the measurement plate and the test object enables statements about the stiffness of the car body to be made. In many cases, the target values for stiffness are predefined (e.g. 50.000 Nm/°). The measuring points are determined using computations based on FEM models. A predefined trigger moment (e.g. 3000 Nm) starts data acquisition using catman®AP measurement software.
Data is conveniently uploaded from the system for analysis. This precise measurement is also used for validating and adjusting the FEM computation models. Test assemblies vary from vehicle to vehicle and OEM to OEM; the same applies to the requirements placed on the measurement task and the tools.
QuantumX in the MAGNA STEYR laboratory
MAGNA STEYR takes all required car body measurements at its in-house laboratory. For this purpose, two test systems were set up each comprising 40 to 50 inductive displacement sensors providing TEDS and 7 QuantumX MX840 universal amplifiers.
MAGNA STEYR relies on catman®AP for data acquisition - HBM's convenient software for easy and professional data acquisition.
MAGNA STEYR has already been using HBM test equipment in the past. Positive experience in the past led to the decision to rely on HBM in the future too. The new QuantumX combined with TEDS-capable and re-calibrated displacement sensors save time with each new test run and assure, in particular, significantly reduced error rates.
MAGNA STEYR is highly satisfied with HBM's customer support too.
