Wear experiment of ball joints under multi-axis loads using special developed fixtures

Abstract

A method for measuring wear performance of a ball joint is proposed, and a method for designing a special fixture for ball joint wear measurement with four-axis is presented. Based on the proposed methods, a test rig for measuring wear performance of a ball joint is developed and manufactured. The offline control strategy to the special fixture is used to reproduce the load spectrum of the ball joint acquired in the real load conditions. One ball joint taken from an automotive suspension is used to measure the wear characteristics using the developed test fixture and hydraulic actuators. The wear properties of the ball joint before and after experiment are compared and analysed. It is shown that the developed fixture and the proposed test procedures can be used for the wear measurement of a ball joint with standard force or torque actuators at lab.