Thyssenkrupp has begun construction of a new €15m (US$16m) test and development center for steering technology. Completion of the 3,000m² facility in Liechtenstein, Germany, is scheduled for the first half of 2019.
Dr Karsten Kroos, CEO of Thyssenkrupp’s components technology business unit, said, “Combining and expanding our test and development activities will enable us to serve our automotive customers better and more quickly with new solutions and products. This applies in particular to the large number of new orders for electric power-assisted steering systems we have received in recent months. We will also be addressing new development trends in chassis and steering, and translating them into customized, market-ready products.”
Based on this steering technology, the new test center will drive current development projects such as steer-by-wire, e-mobility and the further development of driver assist systems as a precursor to automated driving. For example, in the area of basic research, state-of-the-art measuring technology will be used to examine new materials for potential usage. Four- to six-week endurance tests will enable the quality and service life of these products to be mapped over the entire vehicle lifetime. Work in the acoustics center will focus on further optimizing the acoustic performance of the steering systems.
“The results of the various test series will feed automatically into our digital test models. New software-based analyses will allow us to identify the relevant development parameters and test them in a virtual environment. This will make prototyping significantly more efficient and save on cost-intensive development time,” said Kroos.
January 23, 2017