Australian test services firm APV partners with Ford for five-star ANCAP rating for Ranger
By Neil Dowling on 18th September 2022 News, Technology
Melbourne-based APV tested and evaluated more than 40 crash tests in the past year.
These include supporting OEMs and component manufacturers in assessing, testing and certifying left-hand to right-hand drive conversions such as the certification of the Chevrolet Camaro.
Its work culminated in the Ranger program which APV managing director Harry Hickling said exemplified APV’s capability to partner with industry across test and evaluation programs, particularly the Ranger relationship that started in 2019.
Mr Hickling said that the Ranger crash-test program, which started with planning in 2019, was “the most complex multi-year vehicle development crash test and evaluation program ever undertaken in Australia.”
He said that the program was undertaken in collaboration with teams at Ford’s test facilities at Lara, including the testing and evaluation of prototype and development vehicles, and validation of final assembly vehicles.
The program also included left-hand and right-hand versions for the Australian and US markets. (The crash testing for ANCAP was done by CrashLab in Sydney).
APV’s testing culminated in final validation programs against a range of international standards to assure high levels of vehicle safety and quality.
“At APV, we crash tested 22 vehicles and monitored the performance of the safety management systems and assessment of injury levels,” said Mr Hickling.
“This included the monitoring of the performance of the safety management system, vehicle sensors, accelerometers, airbag and restraint systems through to the fuel systems being shut down, as designed, during the crash event.
“Engineering data being sent back to the Ford engineering team was used to correlate test results with their engineering models to confirm that each vehicle met the safety and survivability requirements established by the design team.
“A capacity of no less than one vehicle crash test per week had to be met against some of the most complex test conditions ever undertaken in Australia.”
He said that many of the tests required more than 200 channels of data, recorded at a sample rate of up to 20,000 samples per second for post-crash analysis, with 18 high-speed, high-definition cameras recording each test from above, below, outside and inside the vehicles.
Metrology level scanning of the vehicles both pre- and post-crash enabled the Ford engineering team to assess deformation in critical areas of the vehicles and compare them to other simulation results.
Mr Hickling said that the new-gen Ford Ranger has “set a new bar in vehicle safety within its class achieving a five-star ANCAP rating against the latest test protocols.”
“APV is proud to have collaborated closely with Ford on its test and evaluation program to bring their vision to reality,” he said.
“On a personal note, I am also immensely proud to see Australia’s latest achievements in passenger vehicle design through test and evaluation capabilities, along with the associated automotive aftermarket industry, on the international stage – Australia’s own Detroit within the region – a truly fantastic achievement.”
APV’s recent involvement with Ford Australia for the Ranger program came about through a strategy to support the international vehicle test and validation program. This leveraged off APV’s past capabilities to build a new international test and evaluation capability to underpin the product development and release schedules.
Mr Hickling said the investment by APV in new equipment, technology and resources exceeded $3 million with specialised equipment from around the world to ensure Ford’s standards and expectations were met.
APV recruited six people to support its testing work during the Ford program to bring the total APV group to more than 60.
APV Corporation is a Melbourne-based testing services organisation that makes a significant contribution to the Australian road-safety and transport industry with test and evaluation services ranging from child-seat testing, automotive accessories, through to ANCAP safety ratings.
APV’s subsidiary APV Engineering and Testing Services Pty Ltd (APV-T) is Australia’s most advanced ISO17025 test laboratory of its type and represents the Australian commercial point of expertise in Safety and Survivability Testing.
By Neil Dowling
Road to Recovery Podcast Series
VACC seeks evidence from dealers ahead of push to extend the asset write-off deadline
Lexus dealers the happiest in UK franchisee survey while Stellantis needs help
Treat the rest of this year as a training season to prepare for ‘back to normal’ trading
© Copyright 1979 – 2022 GoAutoMedia Pty Ltd • Terms and Conditions • Privacy Policy
Recent Comments