News

Austria Speedski Team tests the materials in Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Research Center

Torino, January 20 2010. Gunther Foidl and Gherard Peer, Austria Speedski Team skiers, made a series of aerodynamic tests in Pininfarina Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Research Center.

The athletes of the Speedski discipline tested different materials with the aim of indentifying the profiles able to guarantee the best performances in terms of aerodynamics. They also carried out an analysis, through the use of the smoke visualization, tended to find the best position to minimise the aerodynamic resistance.

Austria Speedski Team enters the group of the countless athletes who made the final sports equipment adjustments the in Pininfarina Wind Tunnel, from Francesco Moser to Reinhold Messner, from Isolde Kostner to Daniela Ceccarelli.

Presentation of the Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Research Center at the MIA Business Workshop (Birmingham, January 2008)

Pininfarina Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Research Center will present a new measurement technique

At the next SAE World Congress (April 14-17, 2008, Detroit, MI) the Pininfarina Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Research Center will present a new measurement technique to improve vehicle's external noise sources detection. This unique system is fully integrated in the Wind Tunnel and it allows for scanning the 3D vehicle's surface geometry directly in the test section. The geometry is then used by a "three dimensional beamforming" technique to localize the noise sources as measured by the ceiling and side wall microphone arrays. This procedure has to be compared with standard analysis, where the investigation is performed on a virtual plane with the "planar beamforming" technique. As a result, the noise sources detection is improved both in terms of localization and accuracy of the Sound Pressure Level (SPL).
The hardware and software to scan the vehicle's geometry and the algorithm to perform the "3D beamforming" have been fully developed by the Pininfarina Wind Tunnel team.
Acoustic comfort is currently a key selling point leading vehicle manufacturers to invest more and more resources in research and development. The introduction of this unique and fully integrated system will help to improve the aeroacoustic performance of road vehicles, and it will help the development teams in the Pininfarina Wind Tunnel.

'Beamforming' results of an experiment with two virtual sources VS with the same SPL level but located at different height over ground. Maps A and B show the "planar beamforming" results of investigations performed respectively in the plane of the first and the second virtual sources.
The results plotted in the maps C and D highlight the higher accuracy of the 3D Beamforming thanks to the focusing on the 3D vehicle’s geometry acquired in the test section.

 

WIND TUNNEL, NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR GROUND EFFECT SIMULATION
with a 4 million Euros investment Pininfarina is ready to enter the racing world

It is called T-Belt and it uses three belts in combination. It is the new Ground Effect Simulation System, installed this Summer in the full-scale Automotive Wind Tunnel of the Pininfarina Aerodynamic Center. The new technology requested a 4 million Euros investment and it replaces the single-belt system installed in 1995, which was the first in the world to be able to test full-scale cars by simulating the aerodynamic effects due to wheel rotation and ground relative motion.
The T-Belt substantially improves the simulation of the ground effect and provides a further important technical advantage compared to our competitors. This system, which is patented to protect the unique geometric layout (three belts in a T-Shape) as well as the driving details of the three belts (in the photographs).
“Pininfarina continually invests in research and innovation programmes in all the areas of activity it covers – comments Andrea Pininfarina, Chairman and CEO Pininfarina Group. – This approach is fundamental to maintain and further strengthen our market position. In the case of the Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Research Centre, innovation allows us to face new business opportunities in sectors never explored before, such as the racing one”.
Among the main characteristics of the new system, the overall width of the upstream end of the moving ground has been increased from 1.0 m to 2.5 m, for a length of 1.5 m, by the installation of 3 belts side by side. The central belt is 6.7 m long and the two side belts are 1.5 m long, extending from the front of the central belt to the front wheels. This layout provides an excellent simulation of the ground effect under the car front end, for both passenger and racing cars. The car front-end flow is critical, as the approaching flow is a ‘high energy’ flow, not yet spoiled by the rotating front wheels.
“In particular – explains Antonello Cogotti, Director Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Research Centre Pininfarina - the large width of the moving ground front end is important for front-wing and front-diffuser equipped racing cars, as well as for conventional cars with wheel housings. The improved simulation of the flow upstream of the front wheels improves the flow around the wheels and within the wheel-housings, and will lead to a better flow under the vehicle. It is known that the front wheels and their wheel housing are the most important source of a car aerodynamic drag and their behaviour will now be better simulated. Furthermore it improves the simulation for front brake flows and radiator/cooling-package flows”.
All these improvements may bring new optimal aerodynamic solutions different from the existing ones. The longer, 6.7 m central belt provides a good simulation of road motion even for very long cars, having about 1 m of moving ground ahead of the car and 1 m downstream of the car and its wake. It may also be used to test other long scale models such as trains or trucks, where length is the major dimension. The model scale can be increased, improving model detail, and therefore, measurement accuracy.
The maximum velocity of the three belts has been increased to 250 km/h (it was 200 in the old system), to reach the same maximum speed as the wind. This increased test speed is necessary to uncover the aero-acoustic sources that appear at high speed only and are caused by the deformation of body parts. It may be also important for the measurement of the deformation of some add-on aerodynamic parts of racing cars.

The four rollers that provide wheel rotation have increased diameter. Now, cars can be tested without removing the suspension springs because the rollers can support the full weight of the car. The supports of the rockers restrain the car from any horizontal motion while the vertical motion is free.
“This technology – continues Cogotti – will allow in the future to measure lift and aerodynamic torque for each of the four wheels through sensors installed on each wheel drive unit. This information may be of interest mainly in the case of racing cars”.

The presence of an upstream car (racing or passenger), with its down-lifting or up-lifting vortices, can be easily simulated with the TGS (Turbulence Generation System) and that further improves the simulation of the road condition.

New 13 fans system; Wind Tunnel is 250 Kph. - Jan 2005

Jan 05 - Installment of the new 13 fans system has been completed. The maximum speed of the air flow in the Wind Tunnel is 250 Kph.
In this site, soon more details on this major upgrade of the Pininfarina Wind Tunnel.

Brake Disk Cooling Update - Sep 2004

The Brake Disk Cooling System is updated by adding a third probe placed in one of the ducts of a self-ventilating disk.
At the moment, the measuring system is endowed with three probes able to measure the speed and the turbulence of the air flow on the brake disk inner and outer side, and inside the self-ventilating disk inner channel. Therefore, the Wind Tunnel users is able to get information on the effectiveness of some car modifications either on the aerodynamics loads and on the brake cooling.

ECARA - "Unsteady Aerodynamics" Working Group - Sept 2004

ECARA (European Car Aerodynamic Research Association) will meet on September at RUAG Aeorspace in Emmen (Switzerland). The "Unsteady Aerodynamics" workgroup, coordinated by Pininfarina, will meet on September 21st.

Look at the news archive for informations and news about old meetings.

ECARA - "Unsteady Aerodynamics" Working Group - Oct 2003

ECARA (European Car Aerodynamic Research Association) met on October 2003 at St. Cyr L'Ecole, France. The meeting was hosted by IAT - S2A. The Unsteady Aerodynamics workgroup held its sixth meeting.

Click here to look at the meeting photo gallery.

Comfort Helmet - Sept 2003

A new system has been developed to test the comfort level of passengers in open roof cars: the Comfort Helmet.
This new device is equipped with omni-directional sensors with high frequency response. Mean velocity and local turbulence can be measured in a very short time all around the passenger's head.

For further details on the system and measurement examples, take a look at the Comfort Helmet web site page.

ECARA - "Unsteady Aerodynamics" Working Group - Apr 2003

ECARA (European Car Aerodynamic Research Association) met on April 2003 at Munchen, Germany. The meeting was hosted by BMW. The Unsteady Aerodynamics workgroup held its fifth meeting.

Brake Disk Cooling - Jan 2003

A new system has been developed to measure the brake disk cooling. Two sensors are placed either on the internal either on the external surface of the disk in order to give the tangential velocity of the flow.
Thanks to the high frequency response of the probes, a very good spatial resolution can be achieved. Furthermore the measurements are quickly repeated tens of times in order to give mean values and standard deviation of the velocities angle by angle.
For further details on the system and measurement examples, take a look at the Brake Disk Cooling web site page.

Turbulence Generation System (TGS) - Jan 2003

After a research work lasted several years, an innovative system to generate ambient wind turbulence has been installed and it is fully operational since Jan 2003: the Turbulence Generation System (TGS).
It is an active system which can generate long scale turbulence and it can be operated in many different modes, thanks to the versatile control system.
Furthermore the system is mounted on lifters in order to save time. The whole device can be made operational in less then three minutes.
For further details on system specifications, operational modes, etc. look at the Turbulence Generation Systempage.

ECARA - "Unsteady Aerodynamics" Working Group - Oct 2002

ECARA (European Car Aerodynamic Research Association) met on October 2002 at Pininfarina, Torino. The Unsteady Aerodynamics workgroup held its fourth meeting.

Click here to look at the meeting photo gallery.

ISO 9001;1994 - Quality System Certificate - March 2002

The Quality System Certification (issued to Pininfarina for the first time in 1994), has been renewed on March 2002. The certificate is valid for:
"Design (definition, development, testing, industrialisation, aerodynamic and aeoracoustic test), manufacture and sale to OEM of cars, trimmed bodies and systems with relevant service parts management and after-sale services."

ECARA - "Unsteady Aerodynamics" Working Group - Mar 2001

ECARA (European Car Aerodynamic Research Association) met on March 2001 at Pininfarina, Torino. The Unsteady Aerodynamics workgroup held its third meeting.