A method for the indoor testing of a road vehicle suspensionsystem

The paper presents a method for the indoor testing of road vehicle suspension systems. The method is based on the measure of the forces/moments acting between the suspension system and the vehicle body and on the measure of the forces/moments between the tire and the ground. Special six-axis load cells have been designed and used for measuring the forces/moments acting at each suspension-chassis joints. The forces acting between the wheel and the ground are measured by means of an innovative measuring wheel able to measure the three forces and the three moments. The paper shows that the direct measurement of forces and moments is a very effective way for understanding the suspension performances referring to vibration and harshness