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Fuel efficiency requirements for automotive, truck, and aircraft products have never been more stringent than they are today. This demand has driven the need for better vehicle aerodynamics. Though CFD is a promising technology, aerodynamic wind tunnels are still the engineer’s first choice in accurately determining vehicle drag, lift and moments.
Aiolos’ aerodynamic wind tunnels produce a low turbulence, uniform flow field of the vehicles. Boundary layers on the wind tunnel surfaces are controlled using moving belt ground planes and boundary layer removal systems. Forces and moments on the vehicles are measured using internal or external balance(s).
Racing teams are also dedicated users of aerodynamic wind tunnels to aid in increasing speed through drag reduction and lift increase. New equipment advances have resulted in car dynamics being actively simulated in wind tunnels using dynamic supports for the test vehicle.
Aiolos staff have been involved in a number of aerodynamic wind tunnel projects over the last four decades. The following are just some of the examples.
| CIRA Icing Wind Tunnel |
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| Aiolos designed the four interchangeable solid/slotted/open wall test sections under contract to the former Turbo-Lufttechnik GmbH, now known as TLT-Turbo GmbH, for this advanced facility located in Capua, Italy. The facility, operational in 2002, can perform icing tests on aircraft components at a variety of atmospheric flight conditions, including altitude. High quality aerodynamic testing is also possible in this facility using various model support systems. |
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| CIRA Low Speed Wind Tunnel |
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| A major design effort was completed by Aiolos under contract to Turbo-Lufttechnik GmbH for a low speed wind tunnel planned by CIRA to be located in Capua, Italy. Aiolos had overall design responsibility for a facility which included interchangeable test sections: 7.2m x 5.5m slotted-wall & open-jet test sections; 4.4m x 5.5m solid-wall & open-jet test sections, including various test techniques to make it state-of-the-art in aerodynamic/aeroacoustic testing. The design was completed in 1996 when the project was put on hold. |
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| Ferrari F1 Wind Tunnel |
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| This facility, supplied by the former Turbo-Lufttechnik GmbH, now known as TLT-Turbo GmbH, was the first of the modern wave of increased scale, higher speed wind tunnels optimized for F1 aerodynamic testing. Aiolos assisted TLT in providing a basic design for a circuit which included a 3.4m x 3.4m solid-wall test section for testing 50% scale F1 models, with capability to convert to slotted-wall for testing larger scale models. The wind tunnel was operational in 1997. |
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| GIE S2A Aeroacoustic Wind Tunnel Complex |
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| This wind tunnel complex was funded by a unique consortium of Peugeot Citroën, Renault Cars and the Centre National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), formed to establish a center of excellence in automotive development in order to maintain the French auto industry’s strong position in the European market. Aiolos was the prime contractor for the flagship facilities in this complex including the building, consisting a 24 m˛ wind tunnel for aerodynamic and aero-acoustic testing of full scale cars and another one for aerodynamic testing of 2/5 scale model cars. The GIE project was completed on time in 2003, due in no small part to its partner for construction, Spie Batignolles of France. |
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| HMC Aeroacoustic Wind Tunnel |
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| This wind tunnel has become the flagship facility for Hyundai Motor Company at their Namyang R&D Centre near Seoul, Korea. The major test capabilities of this wind tunnel, designated HAWT, are aerodynamic testing, aeroacoustic testing and hot thermodynamic testing. Support equipment in the 28 m2 open-jet test section include an underfloor external balance, a chassis dynamometer, probe traverse system, and a variety of acoustic instrumentation. The Aiolos scope of work included overall design and performance responsibility, and specialized hardware supply, under contract to HEC of Korea. HAWT became operational in 1998. A subsequent contract to Aiolos included relocation of the 25% scale model wind tunnel from the HMC site in Ulsan to the HAWT building. |
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| HMC Snow/Rain CWT |
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| The Hyundai Motor Company has a major R&D center in Namyang Korea with many aerodynamic and climatic test facilities. Aiolos constructed, on a turnkey basis, a 5.6 m˛ climatic wind tunnel facility which has the capability to simulate hazardous snow and rain driving conditions, as well as falling snow, under varying temperature conditions. This project, designated HSCWT, was completed in 2003 under very aggressive budget and time constraints. The Aiolos Korea staff had major procurement and site management responsibility and serves to show the strength of Aiolos local capability in Korea. |
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| San Antonio GRE |
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| Aiolos teamed with Vital Link Inc of Houston Texas to design and build a Ground Run-Up Enclosure (GRE) at the San Antonio International Airport, Texas. The facility was designed to mitigate noise during power assurance tests of commercial aircraft, without hampering engine air intake performance at various wind conditions. Vital Link was the overall leader for this project, which was completed in 2002, while Aiolos provided the GRE facility design. A special challenge for Aiolos was a 28ft height limitation due to control tower line of sight requirements. Aiolos utilized its in-house acoustic and aerodynamic technology to develop a GRE design which matched the competitor’s performance which was achieved with a proposed 45ft high structure. The development effort included computational fluid dynamics and wind tunnel testing of the proposed design in order to guarantee that a B777 could be swung into the wind, regardless of the direction, for a proper runup test. |
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| UTM Aeronautical Laboratory |
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| The Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Johor Bahru awarded a contract to Aiolos to provide this laboratory, designated as a national facility for Malaysia. The flagship facility for this laboratory, operational in 2001, is a 2m x 1.5m low speed wind tunnel equipped to provide aerodynamic testing of aeronautical and automotive vehicles. Included in the turnkey contract was the enclosing building with laboratory rooms and offices. |
| Williams GP F1 Wind Tunnel Relocation |
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| Aiolos staff cut their teeth on the design and construction of the 50% scale Williams GP aerodynamic wind tunnel, originally operational in 1991. When Williams decided to build up a new site at Grove, Oxfordshire, Aiolos was selected to dismantle, transport, re-assemble, start up and re-commission the wind tunnel. This was a tough challenge as the first turnkey project for Aiolos but was successfully completed in 1996 within a total facility downtime of just 6 months. |
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