Design and construction of a new, adaptable, test bed mounting system for an internal, combustion engine

Abstract

An engine test bed is a device which allows measurements on engines by making them run in a static way, which means that there is no need to use the vehicle for which the motor was made. Test beds are used in research and development departments of motor manufacturers, in order to ensure the design and the operation of prototypes before they are placed on the market. Hence, several parameters like capacity, performance, efficiency and other physical and chemical characteristics are reviewed. Reliability is also an important aspect of the development process and very specific parts of the engine can be tested for this purpose. Test beds are used for every kind of engines: diesel, gasoline, marine, agricultural, truck or car engines.

In the framework of the European Project Semester 2016 in the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, we had to work on the design and the construction of a new test bed adaptable mounting system for an internal combustion engine on the engine test bench of the Polytechnic University. The objective of our project was to make some alterations to the engine test bed on the engine mounting system in order to increase the flexibility of its use by making the engine switching easier and faster. We had to work with AKKA Company, in Dacia factory, on industrial engine test bed, to get inspired about the design, but also to test the mechanical comportment of it.

Our work has been divided in three steps. First, general researches about engine test bed and the different mounting systems existing. Then, we carried out measures and draws on CATIA of the existing mounting system of the university test bench, in order to make a static simulation to check the design in terms of mechanical resistance and bending. Finally, the last task consisted in doing exactly the same work as the second one, but on the test bed in Dacia plant.

The report of our work during this semester will be approached through three parts, corresponding to the three steps previously explained: researches on engine test bench, university test bed study and Dacia test bed study.