Steering System Component Durability
Assess and validate the durability and expected life of steering system components to minimize warranty cost.
Validating the durability of steering system components is critical to vehicle safety, reliability, and long-term cost control. Components such as ball joints, tie rods, steering racks, bushings, isolators, and elastomeric mounts experience complex cyclic loads throughout a vehicle’s life. Automotive OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and independent test laboratories conduct durability testing to ensure these parts meet performance and warranty targets. Early identification of fatigue, wear, and degradation mechanisms helps engineers improve designs and minimize in-service failures.
Test Methods
Steering component durability testing subjects individual parts to controlled cyclic loads that replicate real-world steering forces, road inputs, and environmental effects. Ball joints and linkages are tested under combined axial, radial, and angular loading to evaluate fatigue life, wear, and loss of stiffness. Elastomeric components are exercised through repeated displacement and force cycles to assess stiffness degradation, hysteresis, and cracking over time. Tests may be conducted under constant amplitude, variable amplitude, or accelerated loading profiles derived from proving-ground data. Multi-axis actuation enables realistic load paths, while long-duration endurance testing captures progressive damage mechanisms. SAE-aligned durability practices define load levels, cycle counts, and failure criteria, ensuring repeatable comparison of designs and validation of expected service life.
Test Results
Steering component durability results are used to quantify fatigue life, stiffness retention, wear rates, and failure modes. OEMs, suppliers, and research institutions apply these findings to refine designs, validate material selections, support warranty targets, and ensure steering systems meet safety and reliability requirements over the vehicle’s intended service life.
MTS Product Solutions
MTS provides a robust portfolio of component-level durability solutions for steering systems. Specialized test systems apply realistic multi-axis loads to individual components, while modular architectures support flexible test configurations. Advanced control and data processing enable accurate replication of service conditions, long-duration endurance testing, and consistent results. Supporting hydraulic power and distribution technologies ensure stable operation during extended durability programs, helping engineers validate steering component life with confidence.
Test Methods
Steering component durability testing subjects individual parts to controlled cyclic loads that replicate real-world steering forces, road inputs, and environmental effects. Ball joints and linkages are tested under combined axial, radial, and angular loading to evaluate fatigue life, wear, and loss of stiffness. Elastomeric components are exercised through repeated displacement and force cycles to assess stiffness degradation, hysteresis, and cracking over time. Tests may be conducted under constant amplitude, variable amplitude, or accelerated loading profiles derived from proving-ground data. Multi-axis actuation enables realistic load paths, while long-duration endurance testing captures progressive damage mechanisms. SAE-aligned durability practices define load levels, cycle counts, and failure criteria, ensuring repeatable comparison of designs and validation of expected service life.
Test Results
Steering component durability results are used to quantify fatigue life, stiffness retention, wear rates, and failure modes. OEMs, suppliers, and research institutions apply these findings to refine designs, validate material selections, support warranty targets, and ensure steering systems meet safety and reliability requirements over the vehicle’s intended service life.
MTS Product Solutions
MTS provides a robust portfolio of component-level durability solutions for steering systems. Specialized test systems apply realistic multi-axis loads to individual components, while modular architectures support flexible test configurations. Advanced control and data processing enable accurate replication of service conditions, long-duration endurance testing, and consistent results. Supporting hydraulic power and distribution technologies ensure stable operation during extended durability programs, helping engineers validate steering component life with confidence.
- Ball Joint Test Systems apply controlled axial, radial, and angular loads to steering ball joints and linkages. They enable accelerated durability testing to evaluate fatigue life, wear behavior, and stiffness degradation under realistic service conditions.
- Elastomer Test Systems characterize the durability of steering bushings, isolators, and mounts under cyclic loading. They measure stiffness changes, hysteresis, and material degradation to assess long-term performance and expected service life.
- FlexTest® Controllers deliver precise, closed-loop force and displacement control during durability testing. Their high reliability and multi-axis capability support long-duration steering component tests with accurate load reproduction and data capture.
- Modular Components for Automotive Test Applications provide flexible frames, actuators, and fixturing to configure steering durability test setups. They allow laboratories to adapt systems for different component geometries, load cases, and test standards efficiently.
- RPC® Connect Software processes measured road and load data to create accelerated durability test profiles. It supports realistic cyclic loading and correlation between laboratory steering component tests and real-world service conditions.
- Series 295 Hydraulic Service Manifolds deliver stable, well-regulated hydraulic flow to durability test systems. Their integrated safety and control features ensure consistent actuator performance during extended steering component endurance tests.
- SilentFlo™ 515 & 525 Hydraulic Power Units provide clean, efficient hydraulic power for long-duration durability testing. Their quiet operation and precise pressure control support reliable steering component life validation without facility-level disturbances.
