Late last year, architect Walter Waschle presented a 55 lb. symbolic key to a new facility in Hinwil, Switzerland, to Peter Sauber, team principal of the Sauber Petronas Formula 1 team.
The magnificent new structure was built primarily to house a new wind tunnel, but a large portion of this building, in fact, has a multifunction purpose and is designed to host special events, the Sauber car museum, the racing teams, the R&D team, etc.
"For me, the new wind tunnel is both a technical and a marketing tool," Peter Sauber commented. "It upgrades the Hinwil location immensely and is also meant to send a message to automotive manufacturers."
The building was completed in December 2003, and after two months of calibration, began activities at the end of February 2004. While its initial mission is to improve performance of present and future Sauber Petronas Formula 1 cars, it is also able to test a variety of vehicles up to the size of commercial vans.
The wind tunnel will be used initially for only 2000 hours per year but in parallel with the formation of a new specialized personnel team, the use of the facility will gradually be extended to cover the needs of Sauber partners and sponsors and then to the automotive and vehicle industry in general. Eventually the activity will be extended to 8000 hours per year in a three-shift operation.
The unusual layout places the central axis of the wind tunnel tube more than 26 ft. above ground--not for any technical reason, but simply to promote a strong visual impression. This, it certainly achieves. Except for the test section, which is embedded in concrete, the steel elements of the loop appear to be floating inside the hall on the right side of the main entrance.
The space on the left side is all dedicated to marketing events (ground hall and first floor) and to the racing teams and Sauber R&D activities related to the wind tunnel (model designers, model builders, CFD specialists and other members of the aerodynamic team) on the remaining two floors.
The two sections are separated by a vertical glass wall that allows impressive vision of the wind tunnel, but at the same time abates the noise of the wind so that the two activities can be carried out in parallel without disturbing each other.
The task of amalgamating two completely different activities in the same building was carried out by Atelier WW of Zurich which submitted this creative proposal to Peter Sauber in 1999. The investment required by this multipurpose building is in the range of $55 million. The building, which from the outside resembles a jewelry box or surprise package, as Architect Waschle defines it, is 213 ft. long, 164 ft. wide and 58 ft. high.
The wind tunnel itself, engineered by the German firm TLT Turbo GmbH, has a 462 ft. loop where the air, accelerated by a single large fan, can reach a speed of 186 mph.
The rolling road and the model motion system were provided by MTS Systems Corp., Eden Prairie, Minn., which is one of the leading suppliers of mechanical testing and simulation systems.
The rolling road is formed by a steel belt simulating the relative motion between the road and the vehicle, and has a size that allows testing 60% scale models of Formula 1 cars.
It can also test in a tandem mode to detect wind disturbance reduced by the lead car on the following one. The model motion system is meant to suspend and control the models.
The rolling road, said to be the largest built to date, also allows testing of full size Formula 1 cars and road vehicles as previously mentioned The whole rolling road platform can be rotated [+ or -] 10[degrees] to simulate the yaw effect on the vehicles.
The complete data analysis and main control system software was provided by the U.K. specialist KineticaRT Ltd.
The largest diameter tube measures 31 ft. The single stage axial fan, with carbon rotor blades, is driven by a 4023 hp variable speed electric motor.
This 66 ton fan/motor system is mounted on an elastic structure rested on a concrete foundation block and connected to the loop through elastic membranes so as not to transmit vibrations to the rest or-the wind tunnel.
The amount of power needed to accelerate the air tends to warm up the wind circulating in the loop. To avoid such an effect and allow testing at selected air temperatures, an air conditioning section was placed before the testing section to control temperature and humidity.
The system allows performing tests at 70[degrees]F up to ambient temperatures of 86[degrees]F. At the exit of this plant, before the test section, the air flow is straightened by fins.
The test section itself features a large cross-section (161 sq.ft.) and a closed wall configuration that can be converted into a slotted wall configuration when testing large vehicles.
On one side a transparent wall separates the test cell front the two-store control room giving full visibility to the test team.
The moving steel belt reaches the same speed of the wind. Load cells are located underneath the steel belt for measurement of wheel lift during tests.
In the compressor room, located below the rolling road, all the equipment and the engineering of the whole air system has been supplied by Kaeser Compressors of Germany
Three screw compressors are supplying low-pressure air to sustain the steel belt of the rolling road test platform, and another three screw compressor and a high-pressure booster supply high-pressure air under the wheels of the car, for the exhaust simulation and for instrument and service air. Three blowers are then used to produce the vacuum required inside the rolling road system.
"We opted for this concept for sound reasons," said Sauber, "It was important for us to build a facility that is not necessarily tied to Formula 1 use."
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