A STUDY OF GROUND SIMULATION FOR WIND TUNNEL TESTING OF FULL-SCALE NASCAR's

A road simulation system has been developed at the Langley Full-Scale Tunnel (LFST) to support the aerodynamic testing of road vehicles, particularly NASCARclass race cars. The leading edge of the existing ground board was recontoured to alleviate a separation bubble and an active suction boundary layer control system, incorporating a bleed slot and axial flow blower, has been implemented. Performance evaluations include boundary layer surveys at various locations in the vicinity of the car balance with the empty tunnel as well as force measurements with a representative vehicle both with and without the boundary layer control system operating.