Haas Builds Rolling Road Wind Tunnel
Aerodymics play an ever greater role as racecars start hitting ridiculous speeds. Wind tunnel testing can help figure out what's going on, but wind traveling at 200 and something miles per hour likes to try to stick to the floor of the wind tunnel, and creates an error in readings. The race car usually makes this same ground disappear in a hurry as it rolls. Haas CNC Racing NASCAR team owner Gene Haas in conjunction with Jacobs Engineering has created the first rolling road testing facility in the United States known as WindShear Inc. The one-millimeter thick continuous steel belt will roll at over 180mph, and features sensors under the bed that can take readings at each wheel. At top speed the wind tunnel fan will circulate 2.85 million cubic feet of air per minute! The facility will be available for rental to motorsports teams and manufacturers when it opens later this year. And yes, that's a genuine actual-size race car up on the rollers. Second photo for scale after the jump. Don't forget earplugs.
[Thanks to Ed Iskenderian himself for the tip]
Haas CNC Machining Magazine [HaasCNC.com]
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