Expertise in Automotive, Mechanical and Mechatronics

Group expertise

The Automotive Engineering group offers commercial expertise in:

Automotive Design.
Vehicle Dynamics.
Engine testing and mapping.

Collectively the group has extensive experience in the automotive and motor-sport sectors. A focus on innovative technologies associated with the alternative propulsion technologies such as fuel cell technology and electric vehicles.

Within Mechanical Engineering we are able to support:

CAD/CAM and CATIA.
composite material analysis and testing.
emission and emission control.
energy-harvesting and storage, fuel cells/alternative fuels.
finite Element Analysis.
impact and crash-worthiness.
including computation structural analysis and fluid dynamics.
internal combustion engines.
mechanical design.
modal analysis and dynamic loading.
power generation systems.
refrigeration system.
thermodynamics.
turbochargers and gas turbines.
vibration analysis and condition monitoring.
vibration measurement.

Facilities

4-post suspension test facility
6 Axis Cruden driving simulator
Environmental Testing – salt spray chamber, environmental chambers for mechanical testing
Fully instrumented engine dynamo-meter test cells
Material testing – Fatigue, Tensile/Compression/Torsion, Impact and bespoke testing of components
Nano – indentation
Rolling Road
Tribology Suite
Vibration test equipment

Case study

A local company manufacturing vehicle suspension components were experiencing failures of their component once fitted to the vehicle. They contracted the University of Hertfordshire for the purpose of investigating the cause of failure.

The investigation used dye penetrant and scanning electron microscopy techniques to identify that cyclic bending stresses during service were almost certainly the cause of the initiation of a fatigue crack at the welded interface between the tube and lug.

If your organisation require consultancy with specific problems then get in touch.

Contact our Business Services Team.