Drop testing of components
This is particularly important for the automotive industry, aircraft manufacturing and medical device manufacturing. In this context, drop testing of components has also become increasingly important.
In component drop testing, effects such as shocks, impacts, blows and falls—as they occur during repair work or rough handling in operation—must be simulated. In drop testing, the component under test falls from a defined height onto a base that complies with the applicable testing standard.
For this reason, AUCOTEAM GmbH decided to develop a drop drum test stand. The test stand meets the current requirements of the Machinery Directive EN ISO 12100:2010. Particular emphasis was placed on compliance with machine safety standards.
The drop drum is loaded via the side-mounted hatches. The hatches are transparent and allow for visual monitoring of the test process, for example using an attached camera. On the opposite rear side of the drop drum, there are also two parallel transparent loading flaps. If illumination of the drum’s interior is required to optimally capture the drop process, a suitable lighting fixture can be mounted on the rear side.
The stainless steel drop drum has a modular design, meaning the inner drum segments can be removed. This allows the drop height to be reduced from 100 cm to 50 cm. According to LV 214, the test specimens should fall onto a 5 mm thick steel plate. To reduce impact noise, a wooden plate is attached to the rear. In the drop drum manufactured by AUCOTEAM, both end segments are equipped with a steel plate and a wooden plate as standard. The design can be modified at any time to use other plate materials, such as concrete or plastic.
The first drop drum test stand sold is in use at a supplier of electronic components for the automotive industry.
This design can be replaced with other panel materials at any time
The test stand is operated intuitively via a touchscreen display. The software guides the operator through the process with clear instructions, allowing the operator to set the test parameters—rotational speed and number of revolutions—in just a few steps. The rotational speed of the drop drum can be adjusted from 3 rpm to 10 rpm.
A setup mode is available to determine the optimal drum speed. During this mode, the speed can be adjusted using two buttons or the touchscreen so that the drop curve of the test specimens can be optimally set. The progress of the test is displayed on the screen. Additionally, a signal light with red and green segments mounted on the top of the test stand allows for remote monitoring of the test sequence. Once the test is complete, the drum’s rotational movement stops automatically. Operation of the drop drum test stand is described in a detailed operating manual.
