A New Test Rig for Measuring the Inertia Properties of Vehicles and Their Subsystems

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present the latest issues of a simple and accurate method (and related test-rig) for the measurement of the mass properties of ground vehicles and their subsystems. The method requires 1) to measure the weight and the center of gravity location of the body under investigation, 2) to make the body swing in a rather complex way in the space, 3) to record the swinging motion, 4) to identify the inertia tensor components by means of a proper numerical procedure, based both on a non-linear mathematical model of the system which carries the body and on the recorded data. The carrying system is actually a three or four-bar pendulum. A convenient configuration of the pendulum in order to obtain a good measurement accuracy is derived. A validation of the measuring procedure is presented. The measurement error on the main diagonal components of the inertia tensor is less than 1%. The rig is being used to measure the inertia tensor of a number of road vehicles and engines/gearboxes.