Inertia & Brake Material Test Stands

When you need inertia for a test stand or direct coupling to a vehicle use Mustang’s easy to use Inertia Stands. 

MAE’s Inertia test stands use precision machined and balanced inertia disc/weights and arbors. These test stands that can consist of a single inertia weight or multiple inertia weights connected to the rotating arbor.  The inertia disc can either be manually engaged/disengaged to the spinning arbor or the inertia disc can be clutched on and off the arbor. .   Inertia Stands are used to couple additional inertia to test articles during dynamic acceleration testing.

Torque meters and speed sensors can be integrated to the arbor to measure shaft torque and speed.  Arbor Torque Limiter can also be added to the arbor to limit excessive shaft torque from being transmitted to the test article. Arbor brakes can also be added to assist in stopping the spinning arbor and inertia disc when disconnected with torque limiter or something happens with the test article prime mover.  The inertia test stands are designed with precision bearings to support the arbor and inertia disc.  The particular type of bearing, grease, oil or hydrostatic is determined by the specifications of the system. Optional bearing temperature and vibration sensors can be added to the bearings. 

The inertia disc are manually bolted together using machined pilots and load transfer keys between the discs and arbor. For multiple inertia disc systems with manual attachment requirements, a precision lifting crane is integrated into the test stand on rails to support the outer edge of the disc from the storage position to the mounting position. The storage position of the multiple disc system centers the disc around the arbor shaft so the inertia disc does not touch the arbor shaft.  If required an Inertia Simulation Motor can be attached to the arbor with a torque measuring device to perform inertia trimming between the base inertia disc values. For applications requiring inertia disc spin-up assist MAE can also attach a variable speed spin-up only motor.  

Mustang Inertia Disc sizes can vary from small to large with low to high speeds depending on the customers requirements.  

Standard Inertia Range: 1 – 121,000 Lb-ft² (1 – 5,100 Kg-m²), expanded Inertia ranges are available 

Standard Speed Range: 500 – 15,000 rpm, expanded Speed ranges are available

Standard Torque Ranges: 10 to 100,000 Lb-ft. (1.4 to 135,600 N-m), expanded Torque ranges are available

Contact Mustang with you specifications and we will be happy to assist you with sizing an Inertia Stand for you. 

MAE Sales Team Members:

Phone us at 1-330-963-5400 or Email us at Sales@mustangae.com

Friction Material Standards Test Stands

When it comes to material friction testing equipment Mustang Mustang has the test machine for you

Mustang designs and manufactures our inertia test stands to meet international standard guidelines from SAE, ISO, JASCO, ECE, FMVSS to mention only a few. The systems can also be modified for customers specific or custom testing needs.  The size of the test stands varies based on the material testing requirements. There are standard type Chase and FAST test stands application as well as medium material testing application, heavy duty applications and extreme duty applications.  Mustang can configure a system for your testing needs. Our Frictional Material Standards Test Stands are configured as building block type test stands with several basic sections coupled together.

  • Drive Motor Section
  • Inertia Disc Section
  • Test Material Mounting Section
  • Controls, Data Acquisition and Motor Drive Section

These basic building block sections can be appropriately sized for you application and populated with equipment to meet your testing needs. 

Drive Motor Section:

This basic section comprises of the drive motor and drive motor torque measuring coupling connected to the inertia section. The drive motor is properly sized for the spin up acceleration rate of the complete systems, inertia simulation extension range, hill grade simulation range and high-speed constant braking torque capabilities. When sound requirements and measurement are a concern MAE has several solutions to reduce the motor sound levels. The motor section can have several add on components such as High Torque Assist system for extremely high torque at low/stall speed conditions associated with brake away force testing.  An intermediate gearbox can be added for expandable speed and torque ranges. 

Mustang is an expert in drive motor technology and the integration of it into test stands.  Virtually every test stand produce by MAE uses inertia simulation.  Mustang is a early developer of inertia simulation and holds a US Patent 5,531,107. 

Inertia Disc Section:

This Inertia Disc Section is comprised of an arbor shaft with a base inertia value coupled to Drive Motor Section and to the Test Material Mounting Section. Inertia Disc are attached to the arbor change the mechanical inertia of the system.  MAE makes the Inertia disc adjustment very easy with either an automated clutch or simple manual change over using a built in gantry crane. Sensors are used to monitor which disc are attached.  The disc size and speed is machine dependent.  The support bearings for the arbor shaft are specific to shaft size, combined shaft and disc weight, rotation speed of the system and sound requirements. the arbor and inertia disc are two plane balanced to ISO balance standards as per the applications. Attached to the bearing are temperature and vibration sensors and speed is also measured on the arbor. 

Test Material Mounting Section:

This section can simply be supplied with an arbor stub shaft or an arbor isolation block. A mounting plate with pilot bore and adapter plates can be supplied to mount static brake components. The pilot mounting plate can be configured to measure reaction torque if so desired.  A dynamic tail stock with torque measurement capability can easily be added to support brakes and monitor braking torque.  With the use of Hybrid Motors and electric wheel end assemblies the test stand can easily be modified to support the testing of the units.  Hydraulic and/or pneumatic brake control medium can be added and controlled. Liquid/water spray system can be added with in an enclosure.  An accessible foldaway material mounting enclosure can be added and configured for NVH, intake and exhaust air cooling, variable speed air simulation blowers up to race speed, Dust intrusion system, fire suppression system, visual windows options, 

Controls, Data Acquisition and Motor Drive Section

These three items will be supplied separately although they work in conjunction to control and monitor the test stand and test article.  The TESTCell Data Acquisition system is a configurable high speed systems capable of 5Khz sample rates or greater and will allow for various test measurements,  test article monitoring will consist of temperature, pressure, flow, distance, displacement, force, torque measurements using various sensors types to properly capture the test article parameters of interest.  Some of the sensor signals will be attached to rotating components and telemetry system will be used to transmit these signals at highs data rates.  Other sensors will use infrared based sensors while others will use laser based technology.  The measurement of some components is difficult due to the testing environment with suspended and built up particles.  Th Control system is a hardened control system made up of embedded controllers or PLC controllers to interface with the test stand components and drive system. The structure around the system will have safety interlocks on all guarded covers and doors. The drive system is an industrial high performance drive system with world wide support. We interface to the drive system using a communications interface not analog and digital to provide an electrically immune system. Mustangs TESTCell Operator software monitors the complete test stand and the test article and allows the operator to perform manual test or perform pre-scripted test pulled from a test data base.  The user friendly software allows for channel set-up, developing calculated channels, calibration, limit monitoring and much more. It is easy to configure, run and export data.

Performance Vehicle Brake Test Stands

When you require Brake and Material Testing stop and look at MAE Performance Brake Test Stands products for your testing needs. 

MAE’s broad range of Performance Brake Test Stands are able to meet your testing needs for:

Vehicle 

  • Personal Vehicles – Bicycles, light scooters, wheel chairs, Segway, etc > 750 lb./Brake
  • Sport Utility Vehicles – motorcycle, tric, ATV, golf cart, utility carts, etc, > 2,500 lb./Brake
  • Material Handling
  • Automotive – Car, Pick-up Truck > 4,000 lb./Brake
  • Medium Duty Truck – > 10,000 lb./Brake
  • Over the Road Truck – > 25,000 lb./Brake
  • Off Road Truck & Tractor > 75,000 lb./Brake
  • High Speed Rail & Train > 35,000 lb./Brake
  • Aircraft, Spacecraft > 400,000 lb./Brake

The brake weights associated with the vehicles type are general and the Performance Brake Tester have a large inertia simulation range with various inertia weights and electric inertia simulation. 

Mustang offer four basic size of Vehicle Performance Brake Test Stands. 

  • Light Duty:
  • Automotive Light Truck:
  • Heavy Duty Comercial Truck:
  • Extreme Duty Vehicle:

If you need to perform SAE J661 test procedure just ask Mustang and we will supply the equipment to perform the test.  

Contact a member of the MAE Sales Team if you have questions regarding our Performance Brake Test Stands:

Phone us at 1-330-963-5400 or Email us at Sales@mustangae.comThis product is not available for online purchase

Chase Friction Material Test Machines

MAE’s Chase Friction Material Testing machine is capable of performing brake and clutch material testing according to the DAE J661 test guidelines and testing procedures.  The Chase Friction Material Testing machine can be purchased with two different friction material sample sizes. 1.06” (27mm) or 0.5” (12.7mm) size.  Various test results can be displayed and plotted by the test stand such as Friction Load vs. Friction Force, Drum Speed & Drum Temp over time.  The testing results can determine material wear characteristics and material fade and recover rate at different speeds and temperatures.  This machine is ideal for rapidly qualifying friction material in a laboratory environment.

SAE J661 General Testing: Secure and report the friction and wear characteristics of brake linings

  • Prepare Test Specimen
  • Prepare Test Drum Surface
  • Conditioning of Test Specimen
  • Specimen Thickness and Mass Measurement
  • Wear Measurement
  • Baseline Run
  • Fade Run
  • Recovery Run

At a minimum and in accordance with SAE J661 standards the FMT-250/750 – CHASE Friction Material Test Machine will provide for means too:

  • Measure the drum temperature
  • Heating the drum
  • Controlling the drum heating rate
  • Cooling the drum from the back side only
  • Controlling the drum cooling rate
  • Measuring friction force
  • Measuring drum rotation speed
  • Measuring specimen thickness and mass

The test stand has a variable speed motor with optional torque sensing, attached to the brake drum spindle supporting the test brake drum.  The test material Friction Force is measured by a friction force load cell mounted on the servo-controlled loading rig, an optional Friction Force measurement can be determined from a torque meter attached to the brake drum spindle shaft coupled with fixed 5.5” (278.5 mm) distance of the test brake drum friction contact to the centerline of the drum.  The test brake drum is temperature controlled with a resistance heater and forced air cooling the test brake drum temperature is measured at three predetermined points at different depths with in the test brake drum.  The contoured test article material is attached to a servo-controlled loading rig with Friction Load feedback measurement.  The sample brake drum speed is monitored by a motor shaft mounted precision encoder.

The operator can generate heating and cooling curves as seen in the SAE J661 guidelines while watch real time graphs, histograms and digital gauges on the display screen during the test.  At the conclusion of the test a report is generated and data is available for export to a network, USB drives, or attached back-up drives.  The test stand can also be configured for alternative manual and script testing to perform customer required testing. 

Optional items such as inertia weight can be attached to perform braking performance testing and in-use test.  Fire suppression systems can be integrated to monitor and extinguish flames, adjustable air nozzles can be supplied to blow dust.  The control cabinet area is pressurized to create a barrier of dust penetration.

Chase Friction Material Tester

DescriptionFMT-250 – CHASEFMT-750 – CHASE
Sample Size1.06” x 1.06” 0.26” (27 x 27 x 6.5 mm)0.5” x 0.5” x 0.26” (12.7 x 12.7 x 6.5 mm)0.5” x 1.0” x 0.26” (12.7 x 25.4 x 6.5 mm)1.06” x 1.06” 0.26” (27 x 27 x 6.5 mm)0.5” x 0.5” x 0.26” (12.7 x 12.7 x 6.5 mm)0.5” x 1.0” x 0.26” (12.7 x 25.4 x 6.5 mm)
Friction Load/Pull Load250 lbf (1,100 N)750 lbf (3,300 N)
Friction Force125 lbf (550 N)375 lbf (1,650 N)
Drum Speed0 – 1,250 rpm0 – 1,250 rpm
Temperature1,000 °F (538°C)1,000 °F (538°C)
Software & Control System TESTCell™TESTCell™
Data Acquisition Sample RateConfigurable, 1- 5,000 HzConfigurable, 1- 5,000 Hz

Landing Gear Testing

Landing Gear / Wheel testing is performed with multiple large diameter inertia weights rotating at speeds associated with an aircraft landing on the ground or 180 to 300 mph.  The number of inertia disc attached to the arbor is determined by the aircraft weight applied to the wheel. 

Landing Gear Drop Test:

The aircraft wheel is mounted to the landing gear shock assembly.  The shock assembly is attached to a vertical drop rig oriented directly above the center arbor area of the inertia disc set.  The drop rig structure moves up and down and is mounted on linear rails above the inertia disc.  The drop rig is also loaded with ballast weight to simulate the weight of the aircraft on the wheel landing gear combination. The lift height of the wheel mounted drop rig combination above the inertia disc is proportional to the aircraft being simulated during landing.  

This is a violent test.  The inertia disc set is rotated up to around 200 mph with an attached large variable speed motor and once all conditions are met the loaded aircraft wheel is dropped on the outside of the rotating inertia disc/weights the wheel is virtually spun up to 200 mph upon impact with the rotating inertia disc. A puff of smoke and tire tread will be removed from the wheel. Next to simulate a landing the wheel brakes will be applied to slow the rotating inertia disc to zero which simulates a landing of the aircraft.  Brake dust, heat, oil, is produced during these landing events and need to be removed from the test chamber. Other taxi test can be performed on the test stand provided the spin up motor is large enough to apply the appropriate amount to torque.

Wheel Loading Test:

Other types of wheel testing can be performed on the test stand with the appropriate drive motor assembly and Wheel Loading Actuators.  The wheel load actuators are attached to the test stand in a location on the side of the test stand inline with the arbor shaft.  The Wheel Loading Actuator will push the wheel into the horizontal side of the inertia disc set. The Wheel Loading Actuator is able to apply multiple force and torques to the wheel against the side of the inertia disc. The Wheel Loading Actuator will control and monitor the:

  • Wheel Radial Load Force
  • Radial Load Rate
  • Side Load
  • Drag Load
  • Torque
  • Yaw Angle
  • Yaw Angle Rate
  • Camber Angle
  • Camber Rate
  • Tire Pressure
  • Wheel Brake Torque
  • Wheel Brake Pressures
  • Wheel Brake Temperatures
  • Wheel Rolling Radius Distance

Wheel Burst Testing:

Attach the wheel to the Wheel Loading Actuator and push the wheel into the side of the inertia disc until the wheel burst.  Measure the wheel pressure, radial loads, wheel radius, and other wheel and machine items of interest. 

Wheel Static Brake Force:

Attach the wheel to the Wheel Loading Actuator push the wheel into the inertia set with enough force and the expected coefficient for friction of the wheel on the steel disc.  Set the appropriate brake pressure to the wheel, then using the low speed high torque motor rotate the inertia disc while measuring the arbor torque until the wheel begins to rotate. 

  • Inertia Weight Range: 25,000 to 440,000 lb. (11,400 – 200,000 Kg), Enhanced Inertia ranges are available
  • Inertia Speed Range: 200 to 300 mph (320 to 485 km/hr), Enhanced speed ranges are available 
  • Spin-up Acceleration Range: 4 to 6 ft/s² (1.22 to 1.83 m/s², Enhanced acceleration ranges are available
  • Spin-up Motoring Torque Range: is based on inertia size and Spin-up acceleration rate 
  • Low Speed Motor Torque Range: 0 to 250,000 lb-ft @ 5-10 mph ( 0 to 339,000 N-m @ 8-16 km/hr), Enhanced acceleration ranges are available

Controls and Data Acqution:

MAE has full line of Control and Data Acquistion systems to control the test stand, sub systems and interface to the facility systems. The operator will be able to perform script or manual test with channel limit monitoring, all with in the TESTCell® software package.  The high speed data acquistion system will monitor the wheel, landing gear, test stand and subsystem data during the test.  The data can be displayed in a multitude of graphical charts and display gauges as well exported via a *.CVS file for review in other software programs.

MAE is available for control and mechanical system up-grade, retrofits, refurbish, maintenance and calibration services. 

Contact Mustang with any questions regarding your Landing Gear Wheel Testing requirements. 

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