General Motors Corporation Truck Product Center (TPC) West Building 34
Hot Exhaust Flexible Connection Test Facility
The Hot Exhaust Test Flexible Connection Test Facility provides bedplate and bench mounted test stands for durability testing of engine exhaust systems flexible connections under mechanical and thermal stress. Vehicle exhaust systems are connected to test stand “engines” comprised of natural gas fired combustion chambers, which provide variable exhaust gas temperatures for the exhaust systems under test. Mechanical stresses are introduced by hydraulic shakers that move the combustion chambers relative to the fixed portions of the exhaust system. Shakers are powered by a high-pressure hydraulic system. The Hot Exhaust Test Facility was custom designed to provide for the installation of test stands being relocated from another facility, with power, control, instrumentation, ventilation, fire detection, alarm and suppression systems and the building construction itself being revised to accommodate the needs of the test operations. DSD provided architectural, mechanical and electrical design and construction support services to prepare the existing facility and install relocated test strands.
