Test Stand Services 

Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) has been actively involved in the design, fabrication and control of a wide variety of test stands for more than 50 years, providing turnkey solutions to unusual and complex system requirements. SwRI has built test stands for applications ranging from 50 to 10,000 HP to meet the needs of the automotive, trucking, agricultural, military, aerospace, marine and petroleum industries. Applications have ranged from components to complex assemblies, such as engines and transmissions, to complete facilities. Services include:

• Specifications preparation
• Design/detailing
• Hardware fabrication
• Installation and commissioning
• Training

These services are based on SwRI's experience in fabricating and operating more than 250 dynamometers at its San Antonio facility.

Specifications and Capabilities

SwRI provides comprehensive test system services using a multidisciplinary project team approach that involves all aspects of the test stand or facility, including:

• Facility requirements
  • Mechanical
  • Electrical
  • Air handling
  • Emissions
• Environmental
  • Temperature (hot and cold)
  • Humidity
  • Pressure
  • Altitude
• Mounting systems/baseplates
• Dynamometers
  • Electrical (AC/DC)
  • Eddy current
  • Air-actuated
  • Hydraulic
• Auxiliary support/accessory systems
• Instrumentation
  • Pressure/temperature
  • Speed/flow
  • Torque
  • Displacement
• Data acquisition and control
• Data analysis and reporting

Military Applications

For more than 30 years, SwRI has provided the U.S. government and government subcontractors with test stands for use by the Army, Navy and Air Force. Test stand applications have included development and production testing of unique and innovative military vehicles, assemblies and components such as:

• Tracked vehicles
• Internal combustion engines
• Submarine powerplants
• Helicopter gearboxes
• Hydraulic pumps, motors and vanes
• High-pressure fuel systems

These test stands include turnkey systems containing any or all aspects of a test cell, test stand or test facility that are characterized by:

• Motive power
• Resistive loading
• Auxiliary systems
• High instrumentation count
• Test stand control
• Data acquisition software

In addition, SwRI provides and/or prepares facility specifications and requests for quotes that define:

• Specialized test equipment
• Facility layout and motion studies
• Facility requirements
• Electricity/cooling/HVAC/steam
• Safety and ergonomics

Applications include:

• 40,000-sq-ft, eight-lab vehicle facility
• 2,400 HP tank test cell
• 30,000 HP, three-cell helicopter gearbox facility
• 4,000 HP helicopter tail rotor test cell
   

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