The custom functional tests
Interview with Federico Brunelli Garuti, Functional Testing Center Coordinator at TEC Eurolab
TEC Eurolab has structured an operations group dedicated to conducting functional tests on real components. What customer needs does this service address?
Our dedicated custom test and test rig area aims to support customers in the development of tests that are not standardized or that follow proprietary test specifications, with test requirements that aim to validate the actual operation of the component or assembly.
This service is increasingly being requested in the engineering and R&D phases of companies both for the study of the prototype and from the point of view of validation of components, even of complex geometry, where the equipment to perform the test is not available.
The idea is to make a test bench, or test rig in technical jargon, ad hoc for the component and not to fit the component to the test machine, as is normally done. This gives the possibility to study the behavior of the component under conditions very similar to those it will face during its service life. The advantage that TEC Eurolab can bring to the customer is speed, flexibility in preparing test solutions that, if implemented on a case-by-case basis by the individual customer, would require much more considerable investment and time. We say our intent is to offer a “mass customization” testing service, somewhat like additive manufacturing technologies aim to do in industrial manufacturing.
Who is this type of service aimed at? Is it requested by companies in specific sectors, or does it attract interest across various industrial fields? Which professionals do you usually speak with?
We work with companies in various industries. In particular, we target customers in the aerospace, automotive, biomedical, mechatronics, and industrial mechanical components sectors, or in any case all those companies that need to test complex components or subassemblies. We can say that the companies we work with are always strongly focused on innovation and having a prototype and “fast” approach to the development of their products.
As I mentioned earlier, this service is particularly useful for staff working within the research and development area because it gives them the ability to be able to quickly evaluate prototypes of components or assemblies and, for example, to make comparisons between different suppliers before considering an ongoing purchase or before consolidating a manufacturing or assembly process.
It also becomes possible to verify whether the component actually meets what the simulations predict and thus assess what the actual performance of the product might be and to identify possible trouble spots well in advance, correct them, and iterate the analysis to converge on an optimal solution.
Could you describe the testing process as a whole? That is, what are the phases of such a hypothetical experimental activity?
In general, an initial discussion is organized with the customer to understand exactly what the objectives, application, and stresses that the component will have to withstand. This first phase is essential to go and define precisely what the main aspects of the test should be. Once the experimental scope of the test has been defined, we move on to the actual design phase, in which the department’s technicians and engineers study the conformation of the bench to be implemented for the test, what equipment and sensors are most suitable to be used. They also design the custom accessories to be able to interface the component to the bench and to all the actuation systems; this is followed by the fabrication of the designed accessories, which can be made either through TEC Eurolab’s in-house workshop or through additive prototyping in technopolymer, especially when there is high geometric complexity and time constraints. We then proceed with the assembly of all the necessary parts on one of the various modular benches, which constitute the “skeleton,” the basic framework of all the test set-ups we go on to make.
Once assembly is complete, a commissioning phase follows to assess whether what has been built and assembled meets the characteristics outlined in the design, and thus whether the system is capable of reproducing the stresses we initially assumed when defining the test. Control systems, automations, and acquisition systems are also programmed and all the necessary test parameters are set.
All these phases always take place by communicating continuously with the customer and confronting each other, often on a daily basis, effectively creating an extended team between TEC Eurolab and the customer. We can say that, at this stage, we work as if we were a real detachment of the client company.
All activities are carried out by specialized and experienced technical personnel, who monitor the tests, verifying the acquisition of all necessary data, on which test reports will then be written and considerations will be carried forward after the test is completed.
With our systems it is possible to acquire up to thirty channels in parallel, be they temperatures, force or displacement signals, pressure values, acceleration values etc.
At the end of the testing and acquisition phase, there usually follows the technical debriefing, where together with the client we discuss the data and consider a possible continuation of the activities to go on to perform repetitions of the test carried out and strengthen the database itself, or to carry out new tests, with different purposes.