Facilities: Ford Environmental Wind Tunnel

The Ford Australia node of ACART is located at the Ford Proving Ground in Lara, Victoria. It includes two major facilities for vehicle testing: an Emissions Test Cell and an Environmental Wind Tunnel.

Both facilities are certified to ISO 9000 and ISO 14000.

The new Environmental Wind Tunnel consists of a team of 6 technicians and 1 engineer. The facility specialises in, but is not limited to the following: Vehicle HVAC testing, Thermal Aero System Engineering, Trim and solar spectrum applications, Environmental cycle tests and Wheel Phase tests.

The facility is the largest environmental wind tunnel in the southern hemisphere. This high tech facility also provides a controlled and repeatable environment to develop products suitable for all global markets.

The tunnel has undergone an extensive correlation program between the existing environmental chamber at the proving ground, field results and other major Ford facilities world wide. The results have been outstanding.

The new Wind Tunnel facilities capabilities:

• Top speed: 250 km/h
• Temperature between -40°C and +55°C
• Temperature stability ±0.25°C
• Humidity stability ±2% relative humidity
• Nozzle sizes 4m2 and 2.7m2
• Solar simulation
  • Operating range 600 10 - 1200W/m2
  • Irradiation area 6m by 2.5m
  • Irradiation uniformity ±5% with irradiation area
  • Full spectrum with UV-B filters
  • Diurnal movement system
• Cirrus 48" 450kW Four Wheel Drive Dynamometer:
  • Wheelbase between 2.3m and 4.75m
  • Maximum vehicles size 2.6m tall and 2.7m wide
  • Max. load per axle is 4500kg
  • Inertia between 453kg and 10886kg
• 2 independent soak chambers with the same temperature range for cold crank and/or cold start testing
• Vehicle workshop with hoist
• ATI Vision data recording and powertrain calibration tool
• DiagRa MCD for On Board Diagnose and powertrain calibration
• Security controlled access

Contact
For further information on the Ford Wind Tunnel node please contact:

Mr. Martin Thurkettle
Senior Diesel Test Engineer
ACART Site Manager – Ford Node
Exhaust Emissions Laboratory
Ford of Australia

T: +61 3 5279 5179
F: +61 3 5282 2270
E:martin.thurkettle@acart.com.au
W: www.acart.com.au