Tough test programme behind the Volvo FMX
Before Volvo Trucks releases a new truck model onto the market, it undergoes a battery of extremely tough tests – and the new Volvo FMX construction truck is no exception.
On the contrary, it has undergone a specially-tailored programme of particularly tough testing at Hällered, Volvo’s enormous test facility located deep in the forests of western Sweden. All so the Volvo FMX really does the business once it hits Europe’s construction sites.
Testing of the various components, systems and complete vehicles takes place according to a standardised programme. The aim is to reveal any possible design shortcomings well before the start of production.
Initially the tests are conducted in the virtual world of a computer, followed by a variety of complex laboratory tests. Then, once the new truck has passed these tests, a complete, driveable prototype is made produced and it is time to subject it to the tough physical tests at the Hällered Proving Ground – Volvo’s enormous test facility hidden deep in the forests of western Sweden, some 50 miles NE of Gothenburg.
Northern Europe’s largest test facility
The proving ground - one of the largest in Europe - was inaugurated in 1972 and has been steadily expanded ever since. The 700 hectare facility is surrounded by 12 kilometres of fencing to keep out wild animals and uninvited guests. Just inside the fence is the oval 6.2 kilometre long high-speed circuit, the longest of the 15 test tracks on the site.
The Hällered Proving Ground is used to test trucks and cars round the clock. And it is here that the Volvo FMX was put through its paces 24 hours a day for six months, being subjected to some of the most rigorous testing a truck has ever undergone. All so as to ensure that it meets Volvo’s quality requirements.
“Here at Hällered we carry out two different test programmes,” says Patrik Lessmark, Complete Vehicle project manager for the FMX project. “We carry out both reliability and lifecycle tests at high speed, something that in our Volvo jargon is known as the AET or Accelerated Endurance Test,” he explains.
The lifecycle tests consist of six to eight months of round-the-clock driving. A number of test drivers run the trucks in shifts, putting the vehicles through about ten highly demanding tests, time after time, throughout the entire test period.
“The aim of the lifecycle tests is to assess how the truck is affected by the total wear and tear that can accumulate throughout the vehicle’s expected lifetime,” explains Patrik.
The reliability tests have a different purpose. Here the vehicles are driven without stop for 16 weeks, following a test regime that corresponds to a full year’s operation under normal conditions.
“With the reliability tests we assess how the truck will cope daily in the hands of our customers,” explains Bengt Johannesson, global lifecycle property specialist at Volvo.
32 different properties are assessed
“All told we assess 32 different properties on the truck, divided into five main categories: quality, safety, the environment, fuel economy and transport efficiency,” says Bengt. “Each of the properties has a different specialist whose job it is to measure and evaluate the results from every single test. 32 people in all, in other words.”
If any one property fails, Volvo’s engineers have to quickly come up with a solution that is then evaluated in new tests, in what is known in the industry as a ‘loop process’.
The Volvo FMX has undergone particularly tough testing
“There are naturally different tests for different truck types,” explains Bengt. “A construction truck is driven in a different way and is subjected to entirely different stresses than, for instance, a long-haul truck, which spends most of its life cruising on smooth tarmac. That is why the Volvo FMX has undergone an extended test programme, in which it has been heavily subjected to particularly large amounts of dust, gravel, sticky mud and water.”
All this driving and hauling a full load of 26 tonnes of crushed rock on the special construction test track at Hällered imposes especially high stresses on the truck’s frame and suspension system. “The engine and power take-off get to work much more on a construction truck,” Bengt points out. This too naturally influences the content of the test programme.
Surpasses expectations
So just how well did the Volvo FMX do in its tests? Is Volvo Trucks’ new construction vehicle ready for hard work and long shifts at construction sites throughout Europe?
“Without a doubt,” confirms Patrik Lessmark. “The new truck is based on a tried and tested design, but the Volvo FMX has nonetheless surpassed our expectations in several respects. The test drivers were particularly appreciative of the comfort, and the truck’s driveability on poor surfaces is fantastic, not least thanks to the new software package for the I-Shift automated transmission.”
“It’ll be interesting to see how the Volvo FMX is received on the market. My colleagues and I are certain there are going to be lots of happy customers,” concludes Patrik.
