BUSINESS

Ford makes mobile wind tunnel from shipping containers

Michael Martinez
The Detroit News

Ford Motor Co. says it has created the world’s first portable wind tunnel.

The mobile wind tunnel features two 53-inch shipping containers with equipment that can generate wind speeds of up to 80 miles per hour. It can run 24 hours a day with a two-person operating team.

The Dearborn automaker said Wednesday it can test for things like cabin noise and aerodynamics with a mobile wind tunnel made of shipping containers that can move across the country and be assembled in as little as six hours.

Ford said the invention is a fraction of the cost of typical wind tunnels, which are building-size rooms with high-tech equipment that can cost up to $50 million. A portable tunnel allows Ford to test vehicles more quickly, instead of shipping them back and forth from locations with stationary wind tunnels.

“This project was born from a desire to be the best when it comes to controlling and limiting the cabin noise customers are so sensitive to,” Bill Gulker, Ford wind noise core supervisor, said in a statement. “And our new mobile wind tunnel saves our engineers time and increases productivity. It’s a fine example of the innovation mindset we’re trying to incorporate into everything we do.”

The mobile wind tunnel features two 53-inch shipping containers with equipment that can generate wind speeds of up to 80 miles per hour. It can run 24 hours a day with a two-person operating team.

The machine also features noise-canceling aeroacoustic vanes in front and behind the fan blades.

The nozzle view of the portable aeroacoustic wind tunnel

It’s unclear how many mobile wind tunnels Ford could make. The first one joins a fleet of three “environmental evaluation chambers,” which can simulate high and low temperatures and extreme terrain.

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