Transportation Research Center

High Speed Test Track: 7.5-mile (12.1-km) oval test track contains four asphalt lanes on the front straightaway and curves and five asphalt lanes on the back straightaway. The 7.5-mile test track's parabolic banking allows neutral speeds up to 140 mph (225 km/h). The test track features level 2-mile (3.2 km) straightaways.

Vehicle Dynamics Area: 50-acre (20-hectare) asphalt pad, with an acceleration loop at each end, is a multipurpose facility for vehicle dynamic testing, durability testing, brake testing, performance testing, product demonstrations, and driver training. It also includes a Jennite Pad.

Basalt & Ceramic Tile Low Mu Surfaces: Contains a 10-meter x 300-meter basalt course with a .25 slide and a 7.5-meter x 100-meter ceramic surface with a .15 slide. Both of these facilities can handle up to 80,000 lbs. and have their own self-contained watering systems. TRC also offers basalt and ceramic tile facilities as well as jennite surfaces. Profile Roads: includes Tire Slap, Unsprung Mass Vibration, Long Curb, Water Drain, Speed Bumps, Road Joint, Undulation Road, Positive & Negative Shocks, Stability Road, Belgian Block Roads, Chip & Seal Roads, Concrete Choppy Road, Concrete Downhill Wavy, Concrete European Union Road and a High Speed Railroad Crossing.

ISO Noise Pad: A 65-ft. by 123-ft. pad allows manufacturers an opportunity to evaluate their products to ISO noise requirements.

Skid Pad: Used for brake and low speed durability testing. This 84-ft. by 9,000-ft. facility contains five smooth lanes for braking flanked by two lanes utilized for rough road durability testing. The durability courses contain rough road surfaces such as resonance, impact and chatter bumps, chuckholes, V-ditches, twists and washboards. This facility also contains 6 crosswind generators capable of a 40-mph output.

Dynamic Handling Course: 1.75 mile asphalt course consisting of a variety of slow, medium, and high-speed corners, slight elevation changes, and turns of varying camber. Winding Road Course: 1.5-mile winding road course with wet and dry pavement capabilities. This course also contains two depth-controlled hydroplane test areas as well as a 203-foot radius wet vehicle dynamics handling area.

Bus & Truck Durability Course: The 2,000-foot by 24-foot wide course consists of: staggered bumps, sine wave course, chuckholes, chatter bumps and a high crown intersection.

Cobblestone Durability Course: 1,320-foot roadway features two parallel strips with an average cobble protrusion of 1.5 inches.

Brake Slope & Soak: Contains concrete roadways with grades of 12, 15, 20, and 30% for brake holding, clutch, differential, and durability testing. The brake soak is a 25-foot wide circular water trough containing a 5% slope on the outer edge to allow immersion of only half the vehicle's braking system.

Gravel Durability Course: Level 2.6-mile (4.2-km) Gravel Durability Course provides a series of twists, turns, and straightaways.

Salt Spray Road, Stone Chipping Road, Curb Impact, & Chuckholes: consists of parallel 20-foot x 990-foot lanes. One lane consists of both high and low spray saline solution, 3% by volume. The other lane provides a vehicle testing course to allow stone chipping of test vehicles.

Paved Rough Roads & Salt Bath: Ideal for durability testing of passenger cars to sport utility vehicles compromises 855 ft. of light duty and 1,215 ft. of medium duty concrete bumps embedded in a 4,200-ft. asphalt roadway. The 60 by 14-ft. Salt Bath is adjustable from 3 to 15-in. deep.

Off-Road Durability Courses: Contains jagged and riverbed rocks, a rock road, a serpentine sand course, frame twists, an under-guard clearance course, and multiple curb trip courses.

Off-Road Mobility Courses: Contains concrete 40, 50 and 60% grades, a sand hill, loose stone and dirt hills, a 20% washboard hill, frame twists, a multiple-approach angled gully, a multiple log-crossing area and three different size boulder crossings.

Paved & Gravel Hilly Road Courses: Contains over eight miles of roadway including a 1,000-foot, 10% asphalt slope, various stone slopes, a 23% asphalt slope, a 1.5-mile gravel road, two level cross-country courses and an off-road course.

ATV Courses: Washboards, logs, hills, and mud pits complete this ATV testing facility.

Provides full service Impact Laboratory and a comprehensive vehicle safety development facility. Vehicle crash testing, impact simulation, highway appurtenances, automotive component static testing, dummy and instrumentation calibration labs are located in TRC's facilities.

Crash Barrier: The enclosed crash barrier is capable of testing vehicles up to 10,000 lbs. at velocities up to 60 mph.

Outdoor Impact Area: Capable of impacting two moving vehicles at any angle at velocities up to 100 mph.

Impact Simulator: 24-in. HYGE pneumatic drive can carry a payload of 10,000 lbs. at 44 g's, simulating a crash speed of 71 mph. Lighter payloads can be accelerated to velocities of 100 mph.

Component Laboratory: The static test laboratory features computer-controlled hydraulic cylinders positioned to apply and record loads at specified rate of force and displacement.

Calibration Laboratory: Accelerometers, load cells, pressure gauges and transducers, anthropomorphic test dummies, position transducers, electrical measuring instrument calibration, including digital multimeters and temperature meters, and torque wrenches.

Contract Services offers a wide range of services including research, development, testing, and analysis in the following areas: Vehicle components, crashworthiness, crash avoidance, bio mechanics, test devices, test procedures, product evaluations, mechanical support, and test driving.

Supports chassis based exhaust emissions testing of motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs, passenger vehicles and light duty trucks. Small to medium size motorcycle and ATV testing is performed on a Horiba chassis dynamometer with a single axle 20 inch diameter smooth roll. Large motorcycle, UTV, passenger vehicle and light duty truck testing is performed on an AVL 2 axle All Wheel Drive (AWD) chassis dynamometer with 48 inch diameter smooth rolls. The AWD dynamometer can be operated in front wheel drive, rear wheel drive or AWD modes. Both chassis dynamometers are AC motoring and meet EPA requirements for chassis based exhaust emission and Deterioration Factor Service accumulation testing. Exhaust emissions are measured using a 2013 model year AVL iGem i60 CVS dilute emissions bench. The bench is capable of measuring tailpipe exhaust emissions produced by gasoline and diesel engines. The AWD dynamometer Test Cell temperature can be set for vehicle testing between 20F (-6C) and 100F (38C).

[6]