Wind tunnel testing (with scale models)

[Brian Austin]

GM's new wind tunnel testing facility uses models (60% or 40% scale, etc.) with complete chassis detail.

https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/a-visit-to-gms-new-reduced-scale-wind-tunnel/

 

Airstream trailers have been tested with quarter-scale models.

https://www.airstream.com/blog/airstream-aerodynamics-put-to-the-test/

Edited September 8, 2022 by Brian Austin

[Ace-Garageguy]

Interesting. Thanks.

[Brian Austin]

Brazil

[Carmak]

Love the pictures from Brazil. Please note that Ford of Brazil used the basic 67-72 Ford truck design up to the 90's and possibly longer so these photos may be more recent than the 67-72 design may suggest.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Yup, good stuff.

[keyser]

Pininfarina’s wind tunnel is 50y old now. Obvs updated. More than just cars. They have 3 tunnels. 1:1 cars fit. 
I have a Pininfarina wind tunnel brochure somewhere around here. ??‍♂️?
 

[Ace-Garageguy]

CFD (computational fluid dynamics) programs were developed from countless hours of observed data in wind-tunnels, and wind tunnels are still used extensively to verify results obtained in CFD.

Kinda funny though, how many of today's engineers/designers believe "computer design" is the be-all-end-all solution to everything, and have no real-world understanding of what they're doing, or how the programs they rely on were developed from HARD HANDS-ON DATA sets.

CAD and CFD and CAE are wonderful tools, but real-world empirical data-collection still has its place.

This is a 1/10 scale model I built back around 1987 of my own 1985 design, specifically for wind-tunnel testing.

The measured drag coefficient was, at the time, the lowest for anything ever built or proposed for surface transportation.

       

                                   

Edited September 9, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy
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