The Honda Automotive Laboratories of Ohio (HALO) includes a new aeroacoustic wind tunnel located near Marysville, Ohio that started operations in 2022. This facility provides world-class aerodynamic flow quality and acoustic testing capabilities for the development of both passenger and motorsports vehicles.
This closed-return ¾ open jet wind tunnel features a two-position flexible nozzle system with cross sections of 25 m2 and 18 m2, providing wind speeds of up to 250 km/h and 310 km/h, respectively. There is a ±180 degree turntable with boundary layer control systems, and interchangeable single belt and 5-belt moving ground plane (MGP) modules. Extensive applications of acoustic treatment in the test section and throughout the wind tunnel circuit provide a hemi-anechoic test environment and low background noise levels. A temperature control system provides uniform and stable air temperature over an operating environment between 10 °C and 50 °C.
The primary instrumentation of the wind tunnel includes the wind speed, temperature, and humidity measurement systems, a 6-component force balance integrated within the turntable, and an acoustic test system (ATS). The ATS includes four planar microphone arrays for external measurements and a spherical microphone array and binaural heads for internal measurements. A flow survey traverse system equipped with a 4-D probe holder mechanism is capable of placing a probe anywhere within the test volume.
The HALO facility includes the wind tunnel control room, secure vehicle preparation bays and office spaces for segregated customers, and a vehicle frontal and side area measurement system.
This paper provides an introduction to the HALO wind tunnel testing capabilities, design features and development, and the results of the aeroacoustic commissioning program. The background noise level and flow quality characteristics are provided.
