Formula One: Benetton Formula Opens Most Advanced Wind Tunnel in Motor Racing
30 December 1998
Courtesy of SportsWebBenetton Formula Ltd, the company that runs the Mild Seven Benetton Playlife team, have today inaugurated their wind tunnel. The new installation is the most advanced available to a Formula One team. It was built next to the Italian team's factory in Enstone, 15 miles north of Oxford (Great Britain).
Benetton Formula's wind tunnel was designed to test a 50% scale model, but can also accommodate a full size formula one car. The rolling road runs at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. It is also possible to pressurise the tunnel and simulate speeds up to 300 miles per hour.
Rocco Benetton, Chief Executive of Benetton Formula, commented:
'We are extremely proud that the technology involved in the wind
tunnel is the most advanced in the Formula One world. This is probably the
biggest single technological investment in the Formula One industry and
certainly the largest ever investment made by the Benetton Group in motor
racing. We now have a unique tool that is second to none. This project
underlines our commitment to Benetton Formula and to consolidating its
position as a top team. We will be using it full time in developing our
1999 car.'
The building that accommodates the wind tunnel is 1,250 square meters. From design to final construction the project has taken almost three year's work and an investment of over 12 million.
In the last five years the Benetton Formula team has won three Formula One world championships: the drivers' championship in 1994 and the drivers' and constructors' championship in 1995. The team currently employs 320 staff.
WIND TUNNEL FACTS
· Project design started in December
1995 and building commenced in June 1996. It is the most advanced in the
world for motor sports use (in terms of accuracy, size and air flow
quality). Designed for accurate testing of models of 50% scale, it can
also accommodate a full size car.
· Wind speed: 150mph with the Rolling Road running in synchronisation.
· Total cost: in excess of 12 million.
· Overall dimensions: 50 metres long by 25 metres wide by 10 metres high.
· The working section is approximately 3.5 metres high by 3.5 metres wide.
· It consists of 700 tonnes of steel joined by 15 kilometres of weld.
· The tunnel airpath is 100 metres long.
· Total installed motor power: 10,000 horsepower, which is 14 times the power of an F1 car, or nearly 200 times the power of a Renault Clio.
· The power required to run the tunnel in its final form will be 5 times that of the factory.
· To power the tunnel it has been necessary to connect up to an electric sub station 1.5 miles away. A trench has been dug to the sub station to service this requirement.
· The fan section weighs 60 tonnes and had to be lowered through the roof. It sits on a vibration isolating seismic block weighing 200 tonnes which is supported on spring/damper units.
· Over 300 people, from over 20 companies from various countries including Germany, France, Italy, Austria and the UK, worked on the tunnel's construction.
· In September and October 1997 in any given 24 hour period there were 160 people of over 14 nationalities working on the tunnel.
· It took 6 weeks to dig out a level surface and a total of over 5000 tonnes of earth and rock was moved from the site.
· In order to fit in with the local countryside an acoustic mound has been built around the wind tunnel.
