Hell on Wheels

Accuride Corp. runs an aggressive research and development program at its Corporate Engineering Center in Henderson, Kentucky. Accuride engineers at this facility test and analyze contemporary designs, and conduct tests to verify the quality of products coming off the production lines. Some of the work involves accelerated fatigue testing in which wheels are subjected to very high loads for extended periods of time to determine where fatigue cracks might start and how they would propagate. Loaded and ready, an Accuride wheel has sensors in place for a test run. Information from the sensors is transmitted to a stationary receiver in the cab of the truck. One approach that Accuride employed to collect data from wheel strain gauges was to mount a data acquisition device directly to the wheel. This device obviated the need to transmit the data from the rotating wheel to a stationary receiver. Digital rotor telemetry offers several advantages for the testing team at Accuride Corp. Because the data are digitized before transmission, they are virtually immune to electrical noise. This means the signal is much clearer and cleaner than an analog system.