Firm opens wind-tunnel to trucks

Jamestown, NY-based Valeo, a supplier of components, systems, and modules for cars and trucks, has upgraded its climatic vehicle wind tunnel to support the testing of heavy trucks. The wind tunnel now features a water-brake dynamometer that increases the facility's testing capabilities to include engines that develop up to 1,500 hp with torque up to 3,500 ft-lb.

Valeo said its wind tunnel is used to evaluate the performance of different engine cooling systems and climate control systems in vehicles that can feature a range of engine and chassis combinations. The dynamometer converts the rotation torque of an engine into stationary torque that can be exactly measured and calculated.

Overall, the facility can test everything from passenger cars to Class 8 trucks, Valeo said. Thermocouples and various transducers measure temperatures and other parameters sending these data to the facility's computer system for real-time display, trending, and evaluation, it added.