APV’s vision is to support Australia’s Automotive and Transport Industry manufacturers in their Research, Test and Evaluation requirements for Defence.
Harry Hickling, Managing Director of APV Corporation, states that “with our recent $ 3 million investment into Test and Evaluation capabilities we are excited to see our latest offering in Seat, Restraints and Anchorage system testing coming on stream to support the Australian Transport industry and in preparation for the Defence Land and Aerospace programs”.
“We can now offer full Seat and Seat Anchorage testing with the latest state-of-the-art mechanical test rig that supports ADR, ECE, FMVS, FiA and SAE-related standards. This level of testing capability has not previously been available in Australia and can be performed to the latest FiA Formula 1 testing regimes. This means that we can support Australian seat manufacturers during the development of their seating solutions. It might come as a surprise, but we get a significant amount of enquiry for this capability in Australia. This ranges from Mobility Solutions for the Disabled, Vehicle Conversions and Van Fit-outs through to FIA Seat manufacturers. These customers will now have a Research, Test and Evaluation partner in APV to stand beside them through the product engineering, development, test, evaluation, and certification phases.
This new capability will also support Australian seat manufacturers during the development of energy-absorbing seating for Aerospace and Protected Land Vehicles. Existing customers as well as new entrants in the market supporting the Land 400 Phase 3, Infantry Fighting Vehicle will now have a Research, Test and Evaluation partner in APV to stand beside them through the product engineering, development, test, evaluation, and certification phases.”
APV has a long history in testing seats and safety restraints to the latest international standards and this continue in 2022 with a new Mechanical Static Test Rig, developed by Aries in Spain, to APV’s requirements. While dynamic testing is, and remains, critical in proving the crashworthiness and functionality of seats and safety restraints, new requirements drive opportunities to invest and improve the offerings from APV’s world-class testing facilities
This $500,000 investment will meet a range of mechanical test requirements and will support testing (in both tension and compression modes) of motorsport seats to the new FiA 8855-2021, and for Occupant Restraint Systems to SAE J2292, ADR 4/06, ECE R14/08, FMVSS 207 & 210.
With load cells in each of the four hydraulic cylinders, 400mm of stroke supporting an actuator speed up to 150mm/sec, and flexibility in the configuration and angle for force application, other novel testing can be considered where loads of up to 20kN per cylinder may be required.
With the addition of this new equipment APV can offer comprehensive testing on all types of seating and restraints for aircraft, military vehicles, ships, ferries, trucks, buses, trains, forklifts and other special purpose machines such as mining vehicles, can all be catered for at APV.
“During 2021 we had some great examples of working with Australian Bus and Seat Manufacturers in a collaborative manner to resolve design issues and to pass the stringent Australian Crash / Dynamic Test and Evaluation requirements. We want to apply this same collaborative approach to support the Australian Defence and Transport industry.”
This fits perfectly with our vision of partnering with the industry to mitigate risk and deliver world-class solutions for our next-generation platforms by being the partner of choice for advanced Research, Simulation, Environmental, Mechanical, Photography, Data Acquisition and Dynamic Engineering and Testing Services.”
