SAKOR Technologies, Inc., a company that implements instrumentation products for dynamometer testing, announces that it has supplied a valve spring test system to SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, a major automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Shanghai, China, with multinational operations. The new SAKOR test stand will be used for valve train development and testing and is expected to facilitate improvements in fuel economy.
SAIC and its partners will use the new capabilities for driving engine cam systems to make precise laser measurements of valve displacement, spring displacement, and motion of other valve train components in the engine head as the cams are spinning. The test stand information will be used to improve valve spring design performance and durability.
The SAKOR test stand system is equipped with a single AccuDyne™ AC Dynamometer that drives both cam shafts simultaneously. The AccuDyne is a 4-quadrant motoring dynamometer, fully capable of testing both active devices and passive devices that do not drive themselves, including cam shafts, pumps, clutches, and compressors.
The valve spring testing unit will facilitate review of different mechanical components, springs, valve seats, and components in the cam drive line, which opens and closes valves to cylinders letting fuel and exhaust in and out. In older engines, timing of valve opening and closing was fixed, but newer designs are being developed to change the timing depending upon the engine speed and load. An enhanced version of the SAKOR test system can also simulate these different cam phasing methods.
“The new test stand for SAIC is another example of our growing experience developing cost effective and convenient flexible test stands for automotive OEM and component manufacturers,” said Randal Beattie, president of SAKOR. “Configured and sized with all the capabilities required for current needs, SAKOR test systems can be easily expanded in response to future demands.”
