Road Load Data Acquisition & Analysis

Optimizing vehicle components, sub-systems, and systems to withstand severe loading and environmental conditions is critical to guarantee superior performance throughout their service life. Road Load Data Acquisition, or RLDA, plays a critical role in the analysis of design, reliability and structural integrity of vehicles and vehicle components to ensure their lifetime value. 

Our experts have extensive experience in road load data measurements and transportation testing, and we understand the unique challenges that face the industry. We work with you to design and implement road load data measurement, recording, and analysis programs that accurately characterize your products, helping you to gain a precise understanding of their overall performance and durability.

Road load data acquisition

During testing, our experts subject vehicles and components to real-world conditions and collect data in the actual service life environment (domestic or international), on the test track proving grounds, or laboratory test rigs. Road load data acquisition takes into account all essential vehicle and driving parameters such as system, subsystem and component stress and strain, as well as load, torque, acceleration, displacement, pressure, and vibration inputs.

The data acquired provides valuable information for engineers, designers, and analysts to develop and optimize components that perform as expected and meet the target durability and reliability requirements.

Developing a duty cycle

The RLDA is used to develop a duty cycle, which is a total description of operational and environmental inputs for the life of a system. It can be used as a reference to identify and set the requirements for a vehicle system and subsystem. 

Working in cooperation with component manufactures and OEM's, Element has supported the development of several duty cycles that apply to vehicle platforms ranging from passenger cars and light trucks to transit bus platforms and class 8 over-the-road and specialty heavy-duty vocational trucks, including off-highway vehicle/equipment applications.

Our experts work closely with you to develop a customized duty cycle that takes individual needs into account, including cost point, time to market, unique operational cases, climatic conditions, and more. 

The Element advantage

Element has an extensive inventory of commercial transducers to support multiple instrumentation and data acquisitions at the same time. Our laboratories are fully capable of performing projects requiring an excess of 400 measured parameters simultaneously. We can design, build and calibrate custom transducers and system components for acquiring the desired loading based on your specific requirements. 

For more information about our road load data acquisition and analysis services, or to request a quote, contact us today.