Compressed Air Best Practices - October 2008 - (Page 21) Focus Industry AUTOMOTIVE TRANSIT | 10/08 | Demand for Data Windshear Inc. held the formal opening, in July 2008, of North America’s first commercially available, single-belt, 180 mph rolling-road wind tunnel facility in Concord, North Carolina. Windshear Business Unit Manager Peter Zierhut said, “Our facility offers highly accurate, repeatable test data previously only available to a select few Formula 1 teams, and never before available anywhere in North America.” Windshear Inc. is an independently operated division of California-based Haas Automation, which also owns and operates the high-profile Haas CNC Racing team. Jacobs Technologies (a division of Jacobs Engineering) staffs and operates the facility. Jacobs Technology specializes in design, construction and operation of wind tunnels for automotive and aerospace industries. In addition, when race teams bring their cars in for testing, they want to know that their performance data will remain confidential. “Security protocols developed by Jacobs Technologies guarantees the security of the data for our clients,” said Zierhut. Race teams are always looking for that extra edge which can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Demand for renting time at the testing facility is reported to be strong with 2008 having been booked for the rest of the year. Demand for 2009 is said to be strong with dozens of customers involved from top-level motor sports organizations in F1, NASCAR, and IndyCar as well as auto manufacturers. kW CO2 O The selection of aircooled compressors vs. water cooled eliminated the potential consumption of 131.4 million gallons of water per year. Compressed Air supports the Rolling Road The Windshear rolling-road is manufactured by MTS Systems. The Single Belt FlatTrac® Rolling Road is elevated dozens of feet off the ground. The stainless steel track is 10.5 feet wide by 29.5 feet long and 1 mm thick. The track “sits” upon a cushion of 150 psi compressed air. A key piece of technology is in the “revolutionary through-the-belt” sensing system, which directly measures the aerodynamic down force produced by the vehicle. www.airbestpractices.com 21 http://www.numatics.com http://www.numatics.com http://www.airbestpractices.com
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