The new wind tunnel complex, which is located adjacent to the existing Dallara factory in Varano de Melegari is the result of considerable investment both human and financial over the past 2 years. Dr Gian Paolo Dallara – President said “This project epitomises the Dallara ethos of continual investment in technology and puts the company in a strong position for the future development of our services and products. We look forward to welcoming existing customers to our new facility and hope to attract many new ones.”

Such has been the growing demand for Dallara’s services in aerodynamic research that it was decided some 2 years ago that a new facility should be built to meet this requirement. The new tunnel is one of the finest and most exacting in the world and great care has been taken in its construction and specification to ensure that it delivers the highest quality of data. The facility not only houses a tunnel, test section and control room but also has a two storey facilities block with 5 model shops, meeting rooms, 900sq.m of office space and amenities. It is a self contained working environment allowing Dallara to provide consultancy clients a secure and confidential space in which to organise their aerodynamic research.

Aerodynamics is one of the key factors in determining a racing car’s performance. This is why Dallara was the first Italian racing car manufacturer to invest money and resources in building a wind tunnel with a moving belt. This occurred back in 1984, since then we have come a long way in both results and aerodynamic know-how, and in late 1995 a new facility was built. Dallara decided to step up from a 1:4 scale wind tunnel models to 1:2,5 scale (with some models also 1:2).

Last year Dallara once again decided to heavily invest in its aerodynamic department by building a new, state of the art, wind tunnel facility. Once again the scale has been increased to 50-60%. This facility is situated on an area of 7500m2, just next to the main buildings of Dallara Automobili. The wind tunnel facility includes a control room for the wind tunnel, 5 model shops to produce the parts tested, 800m2 technical office and a rapid prototyping department.

An acoustically insulated control room allows a perfect privacy and visual control of the test section. The wind tunnel itself is a closed circuit tunnel, with a 6 blade fan (4 metres in diameter) providing the 688 kW (922hp) needed to achieve speeds of up to 60 m/s, (216 km/h) at 560 rpm. The flow quality is controlled through a number of turning vanes and honeycomb sections, just before the test section, to straighten the flow, and also the air temperature is kept constant, through a heat exchanger. A 6:1 convergent section leads the flow into the test section. The later is of the "slotted wall" type, allowing large scale models (up to 50-60%) to be tested. The test section is 2.23m high by 3.35m wide and 5.3m long. It contains a moving belt which can reach a maximum speed of 60 m/s, (216km/h) and can yaw itself 6 degrees.

All the models tested have an high quality, 7 component, internal balance with also an automatic movement system (pitch, yaw and roll) which allow any number of consecutive ride heights to be tested. Furthermore, a PSI 8400 system is used for the pressure acquisition. This allows 256 pressure channels to be acquired simultaneously, thus enabling a more thorough comprehension and optimisation of the car. The rapid prototyping is carried out using 3D machines, 2 SLA 7000 machines. The materials used are SI 10 and especially Bluestone.

General:

- Single return closed-circuit
- Dimensions: 46m long x 15m wide x 7m high
- Rectangular air path perimeter along centre-line: 100m
- Construction material: steel

Test section:

- Area: 7.5m2
- Dimensions: 2.23m high x 3.35m wide x 8m long
- Slotted-wall (27% open)

Fan:

- Axial fan 4.1m diameter
- Fan DC motor power: 688kW (922hp)

Moving belt:

- Length 5.4m
- Width 2.2m
- Automated Yaw +/- 6 degrees
- Active tensioning and tracking controls
- Water-cooled belt plate
- Distributed belt suction system
- Upstream boundary layer suction
- Boundary layer displacement thickness at model nose: δ* < 0.1mm

Speed:

- Wind: nominal 50 m/s maximum 67 m/s
- Belt: nominal 50 m/s maximum 70 m/s
- Turbulence level < 0.2 %

Settling chamber and nozzle:

- Cooling system (water radiator): constant operating temperature 25°C
- Honeycomb and 3 fine screens
- Contraction ratio: 6 :1

Model support:

- Robotic-like 4 degrees of freedom remote control: Heave and Pitch by hydraulic actuators; Yaw and Roll by electric motors; Adjustable longitudinal position
- Twin strut in tandem, twin streamlined cover
- Dynamic testing capability (heave and pitch)

Instrumentation:

- 7 component internal chassis balance
- 4 wheel drag balances
- Pressure measurement: PSI electronic scanner (4x64 ports scanners)

Control and data acquisition system, data post-processing: