Applus+ Laboratories expands its capabilities in China with a new functional automotive testing laboratory

China, a popular region for automotive development has witnessed a peak growth during this last decade with a production volume of nearly 24 million passenger cars. To keep up with this exciting growth trend and to cater to the needs of our large regional and international client base, our testing capabilities in the region are also expanding.   

Our new functional testing laboratory for automotive components at our Applus+ RA facilities in Shanghai will bring exceptional added value to our clients.  

Backed up by accurate robotic solutions, this functional testing laboratory optimises testing operations, reducing the design and production time of traditional tooling racks. Our robots can flexibly change and adjust motion trajectories, achieving high-precision logical action control with continuous repetition of multiple line segments and arcs. Additionally, its operational space can be adjusted to six degrees of freedom reaching positional repeatability ± 0.04mm.    

Environmental simulation testing for whole vehicles will now be able to meet a variety of test specifications for renowned car companies, such as the PV 2005 of Volkswagen AG (VW and Audi). Our robotic solutions can simulate the manual operation trajectory of humans in extreme environments ranging from -40 ℃ to +85℃. This is especially helpful when it comes to working in complex conditions, and allows tests with multi-step unlocking actions and multiple motion trajectories to be conducted.    

These are some of the functional testing requirements that clients can meet thanks to this recent incorporation:    

• Stiffness tests for interior and exterior components and vehicle roof carriers.    
• Abuse and safety tests for interior and exterior components.  
• Operational force tests for interior and exterior components   
• Durability tests for the electric folding of the exterior rearview mirror, electrical and non-electrical cylinder, dynamic torque, side doors, steering column operation, the sun visor, and the shift lever. Including functional tests for the hood/liftgate and window regulator.  

This new incorporation is a key milestone in our ongoing investment in facilities, capabilities, and solid accreditations in the automobile industry.