KLIMAWINDKANAL.COM

Requirements for simulation

According to the task at a climatic wind tunnel next to the climatic requirements such as air temperature, humidity, solar radiation also a good incomming flow to the vehicle is crucial for comparable test results. This is achieved through an appropriate nozzle size and actions to reduce the boundary layer thickness.

Another essential component is the roller test bench that have to simulate as good as possible the driving resistance and mechanical stress according to the behavior of the vehicle on the road.

Unlike to an aerodynamic wind tunnel the cw-values and the coefficients of drag cannot be measured in a climatic wind tunnel.

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The concept

The vehicle tests can be divided into two groups:

The engine and power train cooling requires the coverage of the entire load and speed range with good flow around the vehicle and temperatures above 20°C. A sun simulation is not necessary.

For air conditioning and a cold start behavior tests temperatures to -30°C are required. The solar radiation plays the major role. The demand for the wind flow around the vehicle is not so high. A small wind blower is sufficient.

Following this philosophy, Modine planned the climatic wind tunnel center - shown in Fig. - with two facilities::

• a climatic wind tunnel (in the center of the picture), capable of temperatures above freezing. However, it is constructed so that the climatic envelope can later be extended, with temperatures down to –20° C, and with solar radiation..

• a climatic chamber with a cooling fan (on the far right of the picture), in which the temperature, humidity and solar radiation are reproduced..

The wind tunnel was created in a vertical design. Blower, heat exchanger and auxiliary equipment are located upstairs. Workshops, offices and test facilities, everything is placed in one separate building. This ensures the highest confidentiality.