An onboard water supply can be used for metered wetting of the test surface through nozzles located just forward of the tires of both of the dynamometer test stations. The systems allow for easy changing of control algorithms and are supported by a tailored instrumentation and data processing system that was built up under sponsorship from the Michigan Department of Transportation. The system can be used to measure single or tandem axle, steering or non-steering, and front or rear suspensions. Each wheel pad can act either as a frictionless surface, or apply controlled shear force and moment to the tires in the ground plane. Each pad contains a load cell system for measuring the forces and moments applied to the suspension.
Potentiometric transducers measure the resulting motions of each wheel and axle.
The facility uses up to 48 individual transducers. Signals are gathered by a digital data acquisition system whose software allows for flexible calculation and display in real time for test monitoring or later for data reduction. Load leveling and the interaxle load transfer due to braking can be determined for tandem suspensions.