Fatigue Strength Tests Performed on Automobile Components.

Experimental studies are indispensable when developing and optimizing automobile components step by step. Because of the multitude of test specimens and the differences existing between them, considerable expenditure is necessary for designing, manufacturing and assembling suitable testing facilities and for adapting them to force-generating hydraulic units or to mechanical equipment operating on the resonance principle. Various testing facilities and experimental set-ups are given preferential coverage in the paper. Examples demonstrate development work performed by Thyssen as a supplier to the automobile industry and, vice versa, as a vehicle manufacturer itself, with the testing of components supplied by other companies.