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MTS Systems has built and operated a vehicle test system called the Flat-Trac® Roadway Simulator. The system measures the handling characteristics of a running automobile while holding it stationary in a laboratory. The system can also test the vibration and durability characteristics of an automobile due to driving on rough roads by moving the surface beneath each tire vertically. The automobile is driven as on the road with the machine providing relative motion by moving a flat surface beneath each tire. This paper presents the results of operating a vehicle on the system with a rough road simulated during maneuvering.

MTS Systems has built and operated a vehicle test system called the Flat-Trac® Roadway Simulator. The system allows the measurement of handling characteristics of an automobile while holding it stationary in a laboratory. The automobile is driven as on the road with the machine providing relative motion by moving a flat surface beneath each tire. This paper presents the results of operating the system and compares machine data to test track data for a variety of vehicles and test procedures.

Flat surface roadway simulators (FSRS) now under construction will allow total vehicle laboratory testing. An FSRS combines flat surface belt, chassis dynamometer and road fatigue simulator technology to measure vehicle performance and durability under realistic driving conditions in the laboratory. The development and intended application of this class of test system is described in this paper.