Rolling Road Technology for Automotive High Speed Testing

The importance of the rolling road in wind tunnel automotive testing was widely demonstrated for racing cars as well as for road cars. Different technological solutions are used as a function of the wind tunnel test methodology. For tests on scale models, the balance is located inside the model or upper the test section; the wheels are connected to the model, or supported by independent frames. For full scale models, three different layouts are usually utilized: 1) the balance is located under the rolling road and the rolling road itself is inside the wheel track; 2) the rolling road is wider than the wheel track (wheels on the belt); 3) the balance is connected to the model through a rear sting and the wheels lay on the belt.

The paper reviews the different technological solutions suitable for different test cases and analyzes the level of accuracy of the measures.