Utveckling av en industriell testrigg för provning och analys av lastbilars hydraulsystem

Abstract

This thesis report explains the design and development of a testing rig for large equipment hydraulic systems that are mounted on trucks. The project tied to this report is a bachelor thesis worth 15 credits and done under the guidance of the Department of Industrial and Materials Science at Chalmers University of Technology and in collaboration with Volvo Trucks. Hydraulic systems play a fundamental role across numerous industries by enabling functions such as lifting heavy loads, transmitting power over long distances, and providing precise control of mechanical motion. To uphold quality and safety requirements, hydraulic systems must therefore deliver power with high accuracy and maintain reliable performance over time. Against this background, Volvo Trucks sought improved methods for testing hydraulic equipment in response to evolving customer requirements and application demands. The existing testing solution was assessed as overly simplistic and insufficiently reliable, and it lacked key test capabilities, particularly the ability to measure relevant parameters when evaluating truck-mounted systems equipped with variable displacement pumps. These limitations can contribute to production delays and quality risks. In collaboration with Volvo Trucks Customer Adaptations department (CA), this project aimed to address these shortcomings by developing a dedicated test rig capable of testing truck mounted hydraulic systems while measuring flow rate and pressure simultaneously for configurations using both fixed-displacement and variable-displacement pumps. A new testing approach was conceptualized and translated into a rig design intended to enable controlled management of flow and pressure within the test setup. The proposed concept provides the basis for testing, measuring, and analyzing system behavior, with particular emphasis on how hydraulic systems with variable displacement pumps respond to changes in flow demand and pressure levels