Advanced Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory
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What We Do
The Advanced Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory is operated jointly by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. The main missions of the Laboratory include:
- Conducting innovative research and product development in advanced vehicle technologies toward improving the sponsors' products and market share, and
- Providing a productive environment for educating both graduate and undergraduate students to better serve their future employers.
Research
The current projects at AVDL can be divided into three broad categories of Suspensions, Noise and Vibrations, and Vehicle Dynamic Analysis.
- Reducing noise and vibrations using passive and piezoceramic (smart) damping materials in vehicles, such as cars, highway trucks, locomotive cabs, and farm tractor cabs
- Dynamis and kinematics analysis of heavy truck suspensions
- Design and analysis of controllable seat suspensions for heavy vehicles
- Ride evaluation of heavy vehicles
- Vehicle stability (rollover) Analysis
Facilities
AVDL enjoys a wide range of facilities and equipment that is housed in four different laboratories across the Virginia Tech campus, for a total 8000 sq. ft of laboratory space. The equipment at AVDL includes:
- Heavy Truck Suspension Test System
- Single-Axle on-Vehicle Suspension Test System
- Single Suspension Test Rig
- Seat Dynamic Test System
- Various Hydraulic and Electromechanical Actuators .50 caliber gun recoil demonstrator
- dSpace AUTOBOX (20x8) and DS 1003 (4x4) Systems
- 16 channel vehicle dynamics recorder for field testing
- 16 channel ride comfort test system
- 16 channel noise measurement system
- Complete damping material effectiveness measurement system
- Various hydraulic and electromechanical actuators
- The Smart Road