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Primary Case Studies

Caster Durability Threshold Testing

What We Solved

A customer came to DSA with the need for a large, custom-made durability tester for their caster wheels. The goal of their testing was to determine the common failure modes of the casters and to ensure that they would survive their specified lifetime requirements. While they had a current testing apparatus, it failed to sufficiently simulate the real-world operating conditions of the casters. The customer sought out DSA in particular due to the unit’s large size, complexity, custom requirements, and since no commercially available equipment existed for their application. The unit would need to be able to test many casters at a given time, each possibly being a different size and with different force and speed requirements.

How We Solved It

The DSA solution had multiple advantages and upgrades over the Customer’s current system. First, DSA’s design was a large, rotating, automated system which could test up to 12 casters at a single time. The large, circular plate on which the casters rotated around more accurately replicated the use conditions of the casters than the customer’s previous test system. Their previous dynamometer system had a cylindrical contact area while the DSA system utilized a flat diamond coated plate, which included “bumps” to induce shock and vibrations. The DSA system also could variably set the motor speed and independently control the force on each caster via hydraulics, all depending on what kind of test was being done.

The DSA tester automatically records the speed and the distance travels for each caster. It is also able to detect when a caster has failed, using precise LVDTs. If a caster does fail, the test will stop and save data for any casters that didn’t fail, allowing the operator to replace the failure caster and resume testing. The LabVIEW user interface displays all of the detailed information and status for each caster.

RubbermaidMainGUI

GUI

The graph screen of the GUI and showing the LVDT readings vs Distance travel.
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Caster Interface

East Caster Status

Self-Qualification Form

As a technical user, you may know exactly what you need from us already. If you do, save time and streamline the discovery process with our self-qualification form, where you can let DSA know exactly what you need.

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