Non-impact methods and devices for testing the rigidity and/ or the stability of one or more loads

A non-impact method for testing one or more cargo loads placed on a carriage by subjecting, within a single test, the carriage to an acceleration single pulse profile or a corresponding velocity profile, the testing comprising:

• displacing the carriage at a first speed in a first direction,
• applying the acceleration single pulse profile to the carriage as the carriage is displacing in the first direction at the first speed, whereby the carriage is accelerated in a second direction, the second direction being opposite to the first direction, the acceleration of the carriage in the second direction occurring until the carriage is being displaced at a second speed in the second direction, to simulate horizontal inertial forces as experienced by the one or more cargo loads during transport, and
• measuring a deformation of the one or more cargo loads caused by the inertial forces experienced by the one or more cargo loads.