PSI - Issue 47

Bartłomiej Walczak et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 47 (2023) 723 – 731 Bart ł omiej Walczak et al./ Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000 – 000

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Fig. 6b shows position of 14 wire linear displacement sensors. They were divided into two groups. The first group containing 8 sensors measured the deflections of the suspension spring elements. The purpose of the remaining 6 sensors was to record diagonal deformations in three sections of the superstructure. 2.3. Experimental test drives The first phase of testing included standard cases occurring in normal operation. Its goal was to obtain maximum values of the loads acting on the bus. Tests included emergency braking, slaloms, driving on roads of extremely poor quality, driving over a speed bump, driving over a curb or driving over a speed bump, Fig.7.

Fig. 7. Driving over a speed bump.

During the second phase, the team shifted their focus towards urban driving, conducting tests on the bus in two different configurations. The first involved only seating passengers, while the second utilized a fully loaded bus. To ensure the tests were thorough, the team partnered with a renowned local transportation company to select routes with a range of surface qualities. Fig. 8 shows an example of tested locations. In total, these routes comprised of 79 sections.

Fig. 8. Example of selected test routes