Winds Of Change

[RandyEdwards-GFN]

By Randy Edwards

CONCORD, N.C. -- Ever since NASCAR conducted its inaugural Strictly Stock race in Charlotte in 1949 the Queen City has been stock car racing's capitol, but early this year the motorsports world will focus on Concord when the nation's only full-sized, rolling road wind tunnel available to race teams opens.

Constructed at a cost of more than $40 million, the Windshear wind tunnel is adjacent to the Concord Regional Airport and less than five minutes off I-85, about 30 minutes northeast of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. The state-of-the-art facility will allow engineers to obtain data on a car while it has wind up to 180 mph blowing over, under, and around it with all four wheels turning at a corresponding speed, thanks to the rolling road, which duplicates the car traveling on a race track. Engineers can also regulate the air temperature in the tunnel during a test, and the blockage problems that exist in closed or adaptive wind tunnels are avoided.

#1 Entrance to Windshear facility.

Engineer Ken Anderson, who's overseeing the project for owner Gene Haas, noted that putting a full-sized stock car in the tunnel with the wheels turning and actual race speed air passing over all the car's surfaces would allow more accurate test data to be recorded. One of the main keys is the interaction of the car's lower surface and the moving race track surface.

#2 Main section of supply tunnel at fan area.

The tunnel will be able to handle any car with a frontal area of 40 square feet or less. This wide range will allow every type of vehicle, including open-wheel and sports cars, a full range of stock cars and trucks. Motorcycles may even use the tunnel.

Until 2008, if a NASCAR team wanted to use a full-sized wind tunnel, the cars were transported to either the Lockheed tunnel in Marietta, Ga., or the car manufacturer's wind tunnel near Detroit. A few also used the wind tunnel at Old Dominion University, which was built for testing airplanes. However, none of those tunnels possess a rolling road. If a team wanted to utilize a wind tunnel with a rolling road, it had to construct a half-sized model for use in the Penske Technology Group facility in Mooresville.

Many thought the need for a wind tunnel by NASCAR teams would diminish with the Car of Tomorrow due to the tight tolerances to which NASCAR holds the car's body shape and dimensions. Anderson, however, doesn't believe that's the case because its use will be critical in obtaining repeatable data on each car under actual race conditions.

#3 Vanes in tunnel to redirect air flow 180-degrees from fan to rolling road.

Even though NASCAR maintains a very tight check on the specifications for this year's cars, it's believed that not every car passing inspection will perform the same in actual race conditions. Low drag cars are needed for the superspeedways, high down-force cars for intermediate tracks, and the worst aero cars for the short tracks.

Anderson believes the data obtained at Windshear will lead to advancements in various areas, such as cooling for the car's brakes, engine and the driver, better packaging of accessories, and adjustability in areas allowed by those making the rules. Collateral improvements to suspension components isn't expected, but hasn't been eliminated.

With this year's car providing a controlled environment more conducive to engineering, it's believed certain teams and manufacturers will leave Windshear with a much better overall understanding of what their car will do in race situations and an idea as to its behavior.

#4 Tunnel after blower making 180-degree turn to rolling road.

Some teams have expressed a desire for a wind tunnel that would allow more than one car in it so drafting data could be obtained, but Anderson said Windshear wouldn't have that capability since it was not economically feasible due to the tunnel's construction. In the tunnel, a very thin stainless steel belt rotates around two huge drums, much like a belt sander with the sanding surface facing up. The belt, with a car resting on it, provides the rolling road, thus duplicating the car traveling up to 180 mph. Anderson noted the belt must be supported at its contact point with the car's tires to avoid belt failure. This is accomplished by using a jet of air under each wheel, Anderson explained. All of the air used in the wind tunnel is supplied by a 5,200 horsepower motor and fan. With everything running, Anderson says it consumes about 8 megawatts.

#5 Lower side of rolling road showing belt roller and supports.

According to Anderson, adding a second car to the belt and being able to change its relationship to the car in front would more than double the cost of construction. This increase in building cost would raise the charge for tunnel usage so high that the tunnel would be out of reach for most, if not all, race teams. Each manufacturer has a full-sized, non-rolling road wind tunnel that would work for multi-car testing when integrated with the Windshear results.

Anderson declined comment on the usage fee for the wind tunnel, saying only that it would be “a lot.” However, he noted that Windshear time had already been scheduled by teams and manufacturers.

Initially, Windshear will be staffed by about 15 people working 10-hour shifts. Plans call for Windshear to double its staff in about six months and operate around the clock, seven days a week. Visitors to the facility won't be allowed to view the tests being conducted, but may be able to see inside during shift changes.

#6 Inside one of the four secured set-up rooms where the cars are prepared for the rolling road.

For additional information, contact Windshear's general manager Jeff Bordner at 1050 Ivey Cline Rd., Concord, NC 28027, or call (704) 788-9463.

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