TY - JOUR
T1 - A New Wind Tunnel Facility Dedicated to Sports Technology Research and Development
AU - Bäckström, Mikael
AU - Carlsson, Peter
AU - Danvind, Jonas
AU - Koptyug, Andrey
AU - Sundström, David
AU - Tinnsten, Mats
N1 - Funding Information:
The design and construction of the Mid Sweden University Sports Tech Research Centre wind tunnel was a joint effort supported by numerous people and organizations. We are thankful to all of them, though the format of this paper does not even allow us to produce a full list. The construction project was financially supported by Mid Sweden University, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket) and Östersund municipality. The moving belt system was financed by the European Union European Regional Development Fund through the “Focus Outdoor” Project. We are also grateful to our colleagues from Loughborough University for their assistance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - It is desirable to test sportswear and sports equipment at exactly the same conditions experienced during use. Although outdoor tests are in many cases the most adequate, they are at the same time quite complex, demand special measurement technology and wearable equipment. Results of such tests are often hard to interpret due to large variations because of rapidly varying ambient conditions and individual specifics of human objects, among other factors, which are hard or impossible to control. One common alternative is provided through indoor tests made in a stable, controlled environment. Controlling such parameters as temperature, wind speed and direction, air humidity with indoor facilities intended to replicate ambient conditions, and designed to house large objects, is a complex undertaking. Furthermore, replicating seasonal conditions complicates matters even more. A significant amount of research and development related to the operation of sports and other related equipment at high speeds and windy conditions has been carried out in wind tunnels with different degrees of climatic realism. However, the majority of such facilities are designed and constructed for the automotive industry, the aerospace industry and for marine research. A new wind tunnel facility, opened in March 2015 at the Sports Tech Research Centre at Mid Sweden University, is currently among the very few facilities in the world designed under the direct control of sports technology specialists and dedicated primarily to research and development within sports, outdoor clothing and footwear as well as equipment development and testing. The main goal when constructing this dedicated facility has been to successfully replicate ambient conditions for training and equipment testing in environments with controlled wind speed, temperature (+4 to +35°C) and precipitation (from fine mist to heavy downfall). The wind tunnel facility houses the largest moving belt in Sweden (5 m long and 2.7 m wide) which can be adjusted for leveled, uphill and downhill motion. The moving belt is placed in a 10 m2 test section in which the wind speed can be adjusted to match belt speed or independently up to 55 km/h (without narrowing the test section). A fog and rain system, mounted in the test section, can generate rainy conditions varying from fine mist to heavy monsoon. It is also possible to open the facility in order to allow experiments to be performed in wide range of outdoor, ambient conditions. This paper presents the basic parameters of the new wind tunnel facility. As this facility is open for wider international cooperation, we also report the general directions of current research and the future work planned to be carried out at this facility.
AB - It is desirable to test sportswear and sports equipment at exactly the same conditions experienced during use. Although outdoor tests are in many cases the most adequate, they are at the same time quite complex, demand special measurement technology and wearable equipment. Results of such tests are often hard to interpret due to large variations because of rapidly varying ambient conditions and individual specifics of human objects, among other factors, which are hard or impossible to control. One common alternative is provided through indoor tests made in a stable, controlled environment. Controlling such parameters as temperature, wind speed and direction, air humidity with indoor facilities intended to replicate ambient conditions, and designed to house large objects, is a complex undertaking. Furthermore, replicating seasonal conditions complicates matters even more. A significant amount of research and development related to the operation of sports and other related equipment at high speeds and windy conditions has been carried out in wind tunnels with different degrees of climatic realism. However, the majority of such facilities are designed and constructed for the automotive industry, the aerospace industry and for marine research. A new wind tunnel facility, opened in March 2015 at the Sports Tech Research Centre at Mid Sweden University, is currently among the very few facilities in the world designed under the direct control of sports technology specialists and dedicated primarily to research and development within sports, outdoor clothing and footwear as well as equipment development and testing. The main goal when constructing this dedicated facility has been to successfully replicate ambient conditions for training and equipment testing in environments with controlled wind speed, temperature (+4 to +35°C) and precipitation (from fine mist to heavy downfall). The wind tunnel facility houses the largest moving belt in Sweden (5 m long and 2.7 m wide) which can be adjusted for leveled, uphill and downhill motion. The moving belt is placed in a 10 m2 test section in which the wind speed can be adjusted to match belt speed or independently up to 55 km/h (without narrowing the test section). A fog and rain system, mounted in the test section, can generate rainy conditions varying from fine mist to heavy monsoon. It is also possible to open the facility in order to allow experiments to be performed in wide range of outdoor, ambient conditions. This paper presents the basic parameters of the new wind tunnel facility. As this facility is open for wider international cooperation, we also report the general directions of current research and the future work planned to be carried out at this facility.
KW - climate control
KW - indoor testing
KW - moving belt
KW - product development
KW - wind tunnel
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U2 - 10.1016/j.proeng.2016.06.190
DO - 10.1016/j.proeng.2016.06.190
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:84982913097
VL - 147
SP - 62
EP - 67
JO - Procedia Engineering
JF - Procedia Engineering
SN - 1877-7058
T2 - 11th conference of the International Sports Engineering Association, ISEA 2016
Y2 - 11 July 2016 through 14 July 2016
ER -