Bespoke Test Rig Design and Engineering
Dynamic test systems engineered around the loads, movements, controls and measurements that determine whether your results can be trusted.
Speak with PTL’s test rig design and engineering team, led by Daniel Eastwood, Technical Director.
You may need to reproduce a particular duty cycle, apply controlled dynamic loads or generate measurements that existing equipment cannot provide.
PTL is here to support the complete engineering of the test system – from the mechanical structure and loading method through to instrumentation, controls, commissioning and data correlation.
You will work directly with engineers who understand that a test rig must do more than run reliably. It must reproduce the correct physical behaviour without distorting the result being measured.
At a glance
Rig mechanics | Hydraulic and motorised loading | Dynamic modelling | Controls and automation | Instrumentation | Commissioning
A test rig is part of the measurement
A rig can be strong enough to survive while remaining unsuitable for the test.
Excessive compliance can alter the load seen by the test article. Poor alignment can introduce forces that do not exist in service. Control lag can distort a dynamic duty cycle. An incorrectly selected sensor can create precise-looking but misleading data.
PTL treats the rig, test article, instrumentation and control system as one engineering system.
The design begins with the operating conditions that need to be reproduced and the decision the test results must support.
Call us today on 01273 466 666 or send us an email.
Defining the real test requirement
PTL works with the customer to establish the expected loads, movements, pressures, temperatures, speeds, frequencies and duty cycles. We also define what needs to be measured, the required accuracy, the test duration and the acceptance or failure criteria.
This determines whether the strongest solution is hydraulic, motorised, mechanically driven or a combination of technologies. The architecture is selected according to the physical test requirement – not according to whichever actuator or frame is most readily available.
Mechanical rig design
PTL can develop test frames, fixtures, shafts, couplings, bearings, reaction structures, guards and test-article interfaces using PTC Creo, Siemens NX, SolidWorks or Autodesk Inventor.
The complete load path is considered, including maximum loads, alignment, structural stiffness, fatigue, access and safe containment.
The design can also account for future test articles, replaceable fixtures and modular configurations where the rig is expected to support more than one development programme.
The objective is a test system that remains stable and repeatable throughout its intended life.
Structural and fatigue assessment
Ansys and FEMFAT can be used to assess the structure and highly loaded rig components.The requirement is not simply to confirm that the equipment can survive its maximum static load.
Repeated duty cycles, dynamic amplification, local stress, structural deflection and fatigue behaviour may all influence the life of the rig and the validity of its measurements.
This is particularly important for endurance testing, high-cycle programmes and equipment expected to reproduce representative field loading over extended periods.
Electro-hydraulic test systems
Electro-hydraulic systems may be appropriate where high forces, rapid response or controlled displacement are required. PTL can support the hydraulic architecture, actuator requirements, valve selection, pressure and flow control, accumulators, power-system requirements and safety provisions.
The response of the hydraulic circuit can be considered alongside the mechanical structure and test article. Fluid compressibility, valve dynamics, line losses and actuator friction can all affect the load being reproduced and should not be treated as secondary details.
Motorised and electromechanical systems
Motor-driven systems can support rotational testing, speed and torque control, cyclic mechanisms, pump and drivetrain development and repeated endurance duty.
The motor, transmission, mechanical interfaces, sensors and control system must be developed together.
PTL can assess whether the proposed drive has the necessary speed, torque, response and thermal capacity across the full test cycle. The work may also include shafts, couplings, gear systems, bearings, braking, and safe management of stored rotational energy.
Dynamic modelling and controls
Matlab Simulink and GT-SUITE can support modelling of the rig and its control system before commissioning.
This allows PTL to consider actuator response, stability, loading profiles, control authority and interaction with the test article.
Automated sequences, closed-loop control, data logging, alarms and safety shutdowns can then be incorporated into the control architecture.
Where appropriate, the model can later be correlated against measured rig data to improve confidence in both the test and wider product-development models.
Instrumentation and data acquisition
PTL can define measurement requirements for load, torque, pressure, flow, displacement, speed, acceleration, strain, temperature, vibration and electrical performance.
Sensor range, positioning, mounting, acquisition frequency and calibration are considered as part of the test strategy.
The instrumentation plan is designed to produce data capable of answering the engineering question – not merely to collect as many channels as possible. The influence of the sensor and its installation on the measurement should also be understood.
Test strategy and repeatability
The physical rig is only one part of the test system.
PTL can define baseline conditions, test sequencing, calibration, warm-up requirements, repeated cycles, endurance conditions, overload events and acceptance criteria. The method should identify how environmental conditions, rig temperature, alignment, fixture changes and control response could affect repeatability. This gives the customer a controlled basis for comparing components, assessing design changes or approving a product against defined requirements.
From rig design to credible test evidence
PTL can support supplier engagement, manufacture, assembly, commissioning, calibration and initial testing. PTL can also undertake the full test program as a complete package of work for certain rig types.
The customer receives both a physical test system and a documented basis for how it should be operated.
The intended result is a rig with a defined operating envelope, understood measurement capability and repeatable method for generating evidence.
Relevant experience
PTL has experience across dynamic bearing rigs, electro-hydraulic actuation, engine component testing, motor-driven systems, pumps, valves and specialist development equipment.
Published team experience also includes hydraulic variable-valve-actuation systems, advanced valvetrain development, instrumentation, test facilities and correlation between analytical models and physical hardware.
These are programmes in which test-system dynamics and measurement quality are integral to the wider engineering decision.
Daniel Eastwood
Technical Director
Daniel is the lead technical contact for energy systems, hydraulic systems and test rig projects.
Call today on 01273 466 666 or send us an email.
Speak with PTL’s test systems team, led by Daniel Eastwood, Engineering Director
Daniel leads PTL’s mechanical and hydraulic analysis work, including the development of analysis processes and simulation techniques, with a background in thermo-fluid mechanics research at the University of Sussex Rolls-Royce UTC and analysis work for Southwest Research Institute.
Send us the test objective, expected duty cycle, test-article information and measurements you need to obtain.
We will help you define whether a new bespoke rig, modification of existing equipment or combined modelling and physical-test programme is the strongest route.
