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simulator
D.F. Moore*
This paper describes the fundamental design aspects and subsequent develop-
ment of an elaborate laboratory rig for the accurate measurement of braking
system performance. It consists of a fully-instrumented moving stainless steel
belt assembly with superimposed texture passing over end pulleys and driven
by a variable speed motor. The test wheel forms part of a test axle having
torsional strain gauges, a partial drum brake, a slip-ring assembly, a rotational
accelerometer unit, a speed sensor and a variable-inertia disc mounted in line.
The simulator permits as many as ten variables to be preset independently
prior to or during any test run. The rig can be used to simulate hydroplaning
behaviour and to test tread pattern design, and also to evaluate the effective-
ness of locked-wheel, constant slip and anti-skid pulsed braking systems. The
entire wheel support system can be removed if desired, and a second super-
structure substituted to evaluate the high-speed friction and wear behaviour
of tread rubber and plastic block samples
0301-679X/80/040159-06 $02.00 1980 IPC Business Press TRIBOLOGY international August 1980 159
Moore - Design o f a p r o t o t y p e braking s i m u l a t o r
sional motion of the sample: lateral, longitudinal and The remaining diagl:ams in Fig 2 indicate a systematic
vertical. Thus, lateral positioning of the loading assembly progression from what might be described as minimal to
will permit the frictional interface between elastomer maximum rigidity as parallelogram, collar-sliding and
sample and track to occupy a fixed bandwidth, and the roller assembly mechanisms are considered in turn. The
corresponding air compartment is appropriately activated present design incorporates a prototype version of the
with compressed air. Both friction force and normal load roller assembly mechanism seen in Fig 1.
are obtained from strain gauges and displayed in the
original design on an X - Y plotter. Pneumatic circuitry
For lubricated conditions, water or other lubricant is pumped Compressed air at 0.55 MN/m 2 pressure is supplied by a
via a centrifugal pump to a spray nozzle in the form of a slit compressor specially installed within the Tribology
mounted in front of the elastomeric test piece, and a Laboratory to supply four separate pneumatic circuits.
galvanised shroud (shown in Fig 1) is utilized to collect the Fig 3 shows the entire pneumatic circuitry. In the original
excess spray and feed it by gravity to a lubricant reservoir design as a high-speed friction tester for elastomeric block
mounted beneath one of the rotors. A heating element with samples, the following three circuits were utilised:
thermostatic control in the reservoir permits the lubricant Air-bearing
temperature to be varied at will. Pneumatic tensioner
Pneumatic loading
The air-bearing is an elaborate three-compartment design
Special features with its own flow regulators and pressure gauges mounted
The overall design permits as many as ten variables to be on a display panel at the side of the machine. Details of
preset independently in any frictional test: the structure of the bearing are not provided in this article
Belt speed for reasons of brevity. The bearing is mounted in a trans-
Roughness, or belt texture verse tray with levelling screws for varying its effective
Belt track position height with respect to the underside of the belt. Both the
Pneumatic loading pneumatic tensioner and the loading cylinder for the test
Interface pressure sample incorporate 4-way valves for manual loading and
Lubricant film thickness unloading together with regulators and pressure gauges.
Lubricant viscosity Fig 4 is a three-quarter view of the completed tester show-
Lubricant temperature ing in particular the various pneumatic controls mounted
Sliding block material on a control panel at one end of the machine.
Sliding block temperature
Preheating of the elastomeric block material is accom-
Measuringfriction force with strain gouges
plished by embedding heating elements during the moulding
phase, and temperature is then recorded by thermocouples
(also embedded during moulding) and displayed initially
or continuously during a test (in the latter case, there will R2A
be an increase due to frictional heating). Lubricant viscosity
and temperature are independently varied within the
reservoir by the use of additives and a heating element
Load cell, or
respectively. Pneumatic loading is independent of inter- strain gougemodule
face pressure by altering the size of the block sample and/or RIB R2B
introducing a surface texture into the slider itself during
the moulding phase. Typicalstraingaugebridge
A particular feature of the design is the wear-compensation,
self-adjusting mechanism incorporated in the restraining arm.
Measuring
with
normal
load ~_ RIA~
straingauges R~B
Resistors
Compressor
Fqlter 1 Filter
Regulator A ,.- Regulator
Lubricator Lubricator
Air- terminal
Regulator
I. Regulator ~ff Regulator~ ~
On/off valve
7 On/offvalve Flowr e ~
[ -~- 1
I I
Brake
_re
g a u g e s ~
J cylinder
I reservoir I
TrTnsducer I
I Pneumatic
tensioner
Loadino
cylinder Exh Air-bearing
IAnti-skid
ICircuitry J
Anti-skid system
Fig 3 Pneumatic circuitry
Later adaptation of the rig for braking and hydroplaning mum belt speed, which is somewhat less than the electrical
tests required an additional compressed air supply to output of the drive motor and therefore acceptable. Belt
operate a complex anti-skid braking system, and this was slip on drive pulleys was eliminated both by using two
provided from the same compressor using a second control pulleys rather than one and by increasing pulley diameters
panel mounted at the same end of the machine. Fig 3 at the output end at the expense of belt speed, the latter
indicates the additional components required, including being another example of a torque matching exercise
in particular an air reservoir, brake cylinder and a set of requiring experience and good judgement. Later, in the
six high-speed solenoid-operated two-way valves. The case of the anti-skid application, the frictional torque of
loading cylinder in the most recent version of the anti- a locked tyre on the belt surface cannot be allowed to
skid adaptation is utilised as an unloading device to parti- exceed drive motor capability less losses, and a further
ally counteract the heavy gravity loading on the test axle. braking interface between drum brake and test axle also
The air-bearing, of course, differs from the other uses of required careful design to ensure satisfactory operation.
the compressed air supply by the amount of air which it An early consideration during the construction phase of the
consumes as a flow device. Thus, about 90% of the com- machine was the provision of an emergency brake for the
pressor output is utilised in the air-bearing in the case of system. Such a brake would have entailed considerable
the braking adaptation described later, and most of the
remainder in the anti-skid pneumatic circuitry.
Instrumentation
The high-speed friction tester in its earlier form was pro-
vided with semi-conductor strain gauges to measure normal
load and frictional force by bending, as illustrated in Fig 5.
A load cell or strain-gauge module to record frictional force
was fabricated and used in the restraining arm near the
support as shown in the top diagram. A similar arrangement
was designed to measure normal load, and each set of
strain gauges (from friction and loading) was assembled in
a Wheatstone bridge circuit to cancel temperature effects
as shown. Both the normal load and frictional transducers
were carefully calibrated to give a virtually linear force vs.
galvanometer current characteristic in each case, with mean
slopes of approximately 0.25 and 0.35 kgf per micro-
ampere, respectively.
Both signals (ie frictional force and normal load) are dis-
played on an X - Y plotter in such a manner that the slope
of the resulting curve gives the coefficient of sliding friction,
f. Alternatively, either signal in conjunction with the time-
Fig 6 Overall l,iew ()f to,droplaning/brakhtg rig
base module in the plotter can be used to give time-
dependent plots. Belt speed is indicated by a tachometer mits slider temperature to be recorded using embedded
attached to one of the rotors, so that sliding velocity vs. thermocouples or temperature probes, and graphs of
friction force may also be obtained as a two-dimensional friction force vs. temperature may be displayed. Friction
record using the X Y plotter. Yet another variation per- force vs. sliding velocity or temperature give valuable
information concerning viscoelastic effects which occur
when rubberlike materials slide under controlled con-
Measuring
friction
insliding~_~
(planeh"" ~ ditions on a hard substrate.
Speed 50 mm/s
Wheel spee
Friction
System odapling to ~-
force Wheel here kept ot constont voiue of slip by o ~ lower friction surface
pressure just sufficient to couse criticol slip on
porticular surfoce
System adopting to Tank pressureheld
higher friction surfece ot peokline pressure
Line pressure- ~ ~ ~ --