Projects – Industrial/R&D
METU LSWT
Middle East Technical University (METU) located in Ankara, Turkey contracted Aiolos to provide engineering & design services for a Large Scale Multi-Purpose Wind Tunnel facility. This facility is being used for a wide variety of wind energy and civil engineering testing techniques. Aiolos contributed to the design of the facilities unique test section requirements, with one side being a high speed test section able to achieve wind speeds up to 80 m/s, and the other side, a low speed boundary layer test section with wind speeds reaching up to 26 m/s. The facility will be operational in 2015.
University of Western Ontario WindEEE Dome
The Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Dome is the world’s first hexagonal wind tunnel. Its large scale structure (25 meters diameter for the inner dome and 35 meters diameter for the outer return dome) will allow for wind simulations over extended areas and complex terrain. For the first time anywhere, WindEEE will allow for the manipulation of inflow and boundary conditions to reproduce, at large scales and under controlled conditions, the dynamics of real wind systems such as tornadoes, downbursts and shear flows.
UWO Bird WT
This altitude climatic wind tunnel was supplied (turnkey) by Aiolos to the University of Western Ontario, Advanced Facilities for Avian Research (AFAR), in London, Ontario, Canada. At the time of contract, this was one of only three bird wind tunnels in the world (the others were at Lund University, Sweden and the Max Planck Institute, Germany). The facility provides climatic wind tunnel conditions for the study of bird flight physiology under varying temperature, humidity and attitude conditions, and has been operating since Winter 2009.
URV Sand/Wind Engineering Tunnel
The Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain, contracted Aiolos to design and supply a unique wind tunnel which will have the dual capabilities of wind erosion by Aeolian transport of particles and wind loads on structures due to the earth’s boundary layer. The 1.22m x 1.84m test section is long enough (14m) to establish equilibrium saltation conditions over a bed of sand, as well as to provide the proper fetch to enable simulation of the earth’s boundary layer. Saltation equipment, a sand feeder, probe traverse system and sediment trap were designed and supplied for this facility by the University of Guelph, recognized leaders in the field. The wind tunnel circuit was built by Mirmil Products Ltd. of Trenton, Ontario who has built several other unique wind tunnels for Aiolos. The facility was installed in the summer of 2005 and provides Spain with a unique national test capability to explore wind related environmental phenomena.
Rail Test & Research Climatic Wind Tunnel (CWT) Facility
The Austrian government together with major players in the rail industry decided to build, own and operate a climatic wind tunnel facility which would ensure adherence to EC transportation standards and highlight areas for improvement in railroad vehicles. Aiolos was a member of the ARGE team which won the competition to design and supply the complete wind tunnel facility including the building. Aiolos provided the wind tunnel technology including detail design, construction supervision and certain hardware supply. The Aiolos solution to meet the broad scope of the facility requirements was to provide two wind tunnels, one optimized for high speed intercity trains, the other for urban and interurban trains. The resulting complex is the world’s largest test facility of its type, with test section lengths of 100m and 31m, respectively. Test capabilities for the facility, which was operational in 2002, include wind, temperature, humidity, rain, snow and sun to simulate virtually any climatic environment on earth.
San Antonio Ground Run-Up Enclosure (GRE)
Aiolos teamed with Vital Link Inc of Houston Texas to design and build a Ground Run-Up Enclosure (GRE) at the San Antonio International Airport, Texas. The facility was designed to mitigate noise during power assurance tests of commercial aircraft, without hampering engine air intake performance at various wind conditions. Vital Link was the overall leader for this project, which was completed in 2002, while Aiolos provided the GRE facility design. A special challenge for Aiolos was a 28ft height limitation due to control tower line of sight requirements. Aiolos utilized its in-house acoustic and aerodynamic technology to develop a GRE design which matched the competitor’s performance which was achieved with a proposed 45ft high structure. The development effort included computational fluid dynamics and wind tunnel testing of the proposed design in order to guarantee that a B777 could be swung into the wind, regardless of the direction, for a proper runup test.