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the structures and materials evaluation group at the University of Dayton
Research Institute has expertise and evaluating current an emerging materials
and structures under a variety of conditions
in addition to performing standardized test they're often required to develop
unique test protocols in fabricate specialized test fixtures in systems in
order to properly evaluate the performance of structures and components
under real-world environments or situations as an example of meeting
customer specific needs
the University of Dayton Research Institute
is the only organization in the world that can certify sulky's for US Trotting Association racing
In harness racing the driver rides on a lightweight card called a sulky
any new sake design that will be used in harness racing team by the United States
trotting association must first be tested and certified by the university
of Dayton Research Institute each bike must be submitted to be a scary for
measurement
and intern
once it passes those measurements it is brought to the University of Dayton
for dynamic testing to
make sure that a strong enough support withstand rigors of racing
and I do believe now that
they are much safer than they were
years ago
before a sulky can be certified researchers in UDRIs structures and
materials evaluation group
put the cart through a series of rigorous tests
developed by UDRI researchers
that simulate the same type of lows the sulky will experience on the track during
multiple races
as the
they come to the
end of the race
down the front stretch the drivers encouraging the horse quite a bit
and jumping up and down so we simulate those g loading conditions here
with this test rig the sulky is attached to a fully adjustable custom test system
and load is applied at the point of the driver center of gravity
the sake is put through an initial static load to a level of three g's
the sulky is then put through a series of loads to replicate the forces that the
sake sees during a race
the series is repeated ten thousand times
the load is released and the sulky is inspected to make sure no cracks have developed
the last check is a final load of five g's
any sulky which exhibits a structural failure during this test which would
render the vehicle unsafe for the driver or others on the track is considered to
have failed the certification test
if the sulky passes the test the particular sulky model can now be
manufactured and raced in a US trotting association sanctioned event