It’s a funny visit that takes place this Tuesday morning in Cestas, in the metropolis of Bordeaux. That of Swiss Ambassador to FranceRoberto Balzaretti, who embarked on a tour of France by electric bike. Baptized “On the road with Switzerland”, its purpose is to visit Swiss companies working in the sustainable transport sector. A journey that takes the ambassador to the edge of the A63 to visit the SGS company, whose specialty is make transport “age” that you use.
Materials tested in extreme conditions
That’s actually kinda what’s going on. within 9,000 square meters of the Cestas laboratory, one of the 33 of SGS in France, a company based in Geneva (hence this tour of the ambassador). This laboratory, specialized in transportworks with the main European manufacturers who provide them with their prototypes to see what they will look like in several years. “Our specialty is to age parts and equipment, often electrical and electronic”explains Fabien Friche, the commercial director, “mainly for the automotive sector, but also for the medical or packaging sectors, for example.”
Specifically, SGS machines test the resistance of materials used by manufacturers. “We make them follow climatic cycles for example, where we will go up to more than 100°C and conversely, cool down to -70°C for the most extreme conditions”, further details Fabien Friche. The Cestas laboratory also has the largest park of ultraviolet machines in Europewhich gives an idea of the resistance of parts exposed to the sun during decades. The tests carried out provide manufacturers with information on whether to rework their mirrors, electrical panels or even floor mats.
Electric transport, a developing sector
For the past two years, the company has also devoted 20% of his tests to electric means of transport, at the request of manufacturers. “We developed a laboratory with about ten vibrators, including one with a force of 89 kilonewtons”which allows “vibrate and test electrical parts” especially for cars, says Fabien Friche. This allows to “reproduce the stresses that the parts will undergo while driving”, on the battery for example. SGS is also working on electric bikes, making “environmental, climatic, corrosion and vibration simulations”.
Finally, the laboratory is also interested in hydrogen, more precisely in“on-board hydrogen for the qualification of materials, structures” and propose “advice, sampling and analysis of hydrogen gases. So that allows us to have a fairly complete offer”concludes Fabien Friche
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