Shocking Research AT OU Aims To Preserve Tire, Bridges

One Penn per mile. A group of faculty and research students within the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering are developing “smart shock absorbers” that can save that much on tire wear alone. It may not sound like much, but those pennies and miles add up in a hurry.

The shock absorbers OU is developing could save even more by improving gas mileage and limiting wear and tear on bridges.

The university, with help from federal funding, has been working on the shock absorbers and on “real-time monitoring of a bridge’s status and use, as well as sensors for in-service bridge life estimation.”

Friday, faculty and students demonstrate prototypes of the absorbers and equipment to measure bridges and vehicle vibration at their test center at Max Westheimer Airport.

Ultimately, they hope to make shock absorber that will read surface and adjust to conditions, thus causing less vibration and wear on both wheels and bridges.

“These are smart shock absorbers that respond to road conditions,” said Victor De Bruner, a professor of electrical engineering.

The Research Campus North demonstration involved a large truck cab placed on platform with four independently controlled wheel pans. The electronic pans - called hydraulic actuators – are controlled to move the wheels up and own to stimulate bumpy bridges and roads.

Hummer has shown commercials of its trucks performing on similar platforms to show their off-road toughness.

The new shocks were placed on the truck, along with various truck and bridges sensors to monitor vibration and how it affects the truck. A Richer scale-type reading on a computer illustrated the lessened vibration that was visible.

Linda De Brunner, an associate professor of engineering, liked what she saw but said there is more work to do.

“I would call this a research prototype,” she said.

Once the OU team completes its research, Scrub Oak Technologies, Inc. a Norman-based company that includes a number of OU faculty and graduates, will refine the products and put it on the market.

“If we get some capital…we can take what the university has developed and make it ‘talk’ like a shock absorber in about 11 to 13 months,” said Scrub Oak president Ann Patten. “Of course, we would need additional people to market it.”

Oklahoma trucking companies already have expressed interest in the technology. Patten said there will be a test fleet of 20 to 50 trucks that will have the smart shocks “and OU will receive a data stream back from the trucks”

The university will be our independent audit,” she said, “making sure it, does what it’s supposed to do”