Testing

Besides performing or meeting performance requirements, automotive components and systems need to last with predictable behavior and safety. More than ever, the vehicle is expected to operate in multiple regions of the world with minimal localization efforts. Wear, structural integrity, product life, and assurance of product life according to engineering and market expectations require stringent and lengthy test programs. LINK has the ability to support laboratory testing and in-vehicle evaluations with high-end data acquisition systems, coupled with a wide network of testing facilities around the world. Wear rates and life expectancy evaluations; changes in behavior and performance as a function of driven distance; and sensitivity to environmental effects are some of the areas where LINK test systems or testing services can support your reliability and durability evaluation.

Issues related to noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) is still one of the most frequent reasons for come-backs, warranties, and customers switching to a competitor. In many areas noise and vibration is still elusive for computer simulation. The actual interactions of multiple components, product features, and system response to transient energy input or product conditions are quite difficult to assess without testing.

Whether a product is quiet during winter driving conditions, at high temperatures during a mountain descent, or when driving down a parking structure ramp at constant speed, is a matter of using reliable and well-engineered testing systems and testing services. If a product remains quiet after driving for extended periods, or if it develops severe pedal pulsation due to rotor thickness variation, is a matter of working with a testing partner like LINK who provides cost-effective testing programs with dynamometers and testing centers around the globe. Using standard tests like the SAE J2521 or city circuits, or a chassis dynamometer with cold and humid environments to fingerprint the noise characteristics of your product, LINK’s testing capabilities can help you improve your product and differentiate you from your competitors.

Structural and fatigue testing of components are critical safety issues which can cause severe or irreparable damages, and can put a significant dent on your product reliability and reputation. When critical questions related to product reliability, structural integrity, and compliance to regulations emerge is when and where LINK’s test systems and test engineers can be put to the test. Our experience and engineering capabilities enables you and your product to demonstrate compliance, validate product designs, compare to your competitor, and give the assurance to your customers that your product design and performance meets and exceeds their expectation and your specification.

When the friction material industry was faced with the challenge to meet the deadline to comply with the new rules on copper and heavy metals in the states of Washington and California, they came to LINK. Even though chemical analysis was a new endeavor for us, the business challenge and the need to meet the most stringent technical requirements of a new regulation were not. Following the applicable SAE standards (like the SAE J2975), LINK was able to provide chemical evaluation for friction materials suppliers from around the world, to secure ISO 17025 accreditation in time for manufacturers to meet the deadlines on the Better Brake Rules, and to provide timely reports so the manufacturer could continue production and shipments without interruptions.

Am I well below the 5% target for copper that my customer is requesting? May I advertise and label my formula as copper-free? Am I confident my batch-to-batch and plant-to-plant variation are under control for hexavalent chromium and cadmium? May I use the same manufacturing equipment to produce asbestos-free drum linings? These and many other questions from your R&D team, your customers, and your sales staff can be answered accurately, reliably, technically, and timely when you reach out to the LINK team.

Since LINK works with the main type approval authorities, has a designation as a technical service by RDW from the Netherlands, and has been conducting testing to the ECE rules since the early 2000s, we are your partner of choice in China, the U.S., Brazil, or Europe to pursue type approval. If your needs are related to meeting FMVSS regulations for drive-by noise, electronic stability control, tire performance, timing requirements for air supply systems on tractor/trailers combinations, or complying with the reduced stopping distance for commercial vehicles, LINK is your testing service provider of choice.

Whether you are assessing wear and dust in city traffic, performance on a test track, durability of wheel-end components, DTV induced by highway driving, cold judder due to brake drag, hot judder from transient thermal distortion of the rotor, cold noise in Manitoba, actual pressure levels on military jet fighter brakes, or completing other measurements, LINK can help you. LINK is here to help your team devise a test plan, get the logistics in place, execute the testing, and report the results in the format of your choosing so you can understand with minimal questions in order to make data-driven decisions for your product and your business.