Automotive Centre of Excellence climatic wind tunnel featured on Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet

A car was lifted off the ground and steel street signs were whipped around and bent as the destructive force of hurricanes was simulated for Discovery Channel Canada in the General Motors of Canada Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT).

A crew from Discovery’s flagship program Daily Planet recently spent an evening shooting in the ACE climatic wind tunnel, one of the largest and most sophisticated in the world. During their visit, Discovery witnessed winds in excess of 250 kilometres per hour and withstood the pelting, driving rain generated in the wind tunnel. Daily Planet's documentary feature about ACE aired on national television on Tuesday, November 22 (click link to view the broadcast, courtesy: Discovery Channel).

During the Discovery Channel visit, ACE staff simulated hurricanes ranging from Category 1 to Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Daily Planet co-host Dan Riskin braved the elements as he was anchored down in front of the powerful airflow to personally experience the force of winds up to 200 kilometres per hour. The wind and driving rain ripped newspapers from his hands and affected his facial expressions and body movement.

“It was an exhilarating experience – you cannot underestimate the awesome power of hurricane force winds,” said Riskin. “I was literally and figuratively blown away by the capabilities of the ACE climatic wind tunnel.”

ACE is the first testing and research centre of its kind in Canada, and in many respects the world. It is wholly owned and operated by UOIT and is a truly independent test facility that is commercially available to customers who are seeking to bring their ideas into a proof of concept and ready for market.

“We were delighted to welcome the crew from Discovery to ACE and share with them the unlimited potential this incredible facility has to offer,” said Dan Miles, communications strategist, UOIT. “Daily Planet experienced just a small taste of what this world-class facility will be able to do. In the years and decades to come, researchers, entrepreneurs and startup companies will be testing, validating and creating products we haven’t even thought of yet.”

Whether it is severe wind, snow, rain, icing or desert heat, ACE can create every conceivable weather condition, made-to-order. In addition to generating wind speeds in excess of 250 kilometres per hour, the climatic wind tunnel can create temperatures ranging from -40 to +60°C and relative humidity ranging from 5 to 95 per cent. The climatic wind tunnel has a unique variable nozzle that can optimize the airflow from 7 to 13 metres squared (and larger) allowing for an unprecedented range of vehicle and test property sizes. Coupled with this feature is a large flexible chassis dynamometer that is integrated into an 11.5-metre turntable. Now, for the first time anywhere, vehicles and test properties can be turned into the airstream under full operating conditions to facilitate crosswind development. The large open chamber has a readily reconfigurable solar array that will replicate the effects of the sun and is hydrogen-capable, allowing for alternative fuels and fuel cell development.

ACE also features two other climate chambers (large and small) which can provide exacting conditions of both temperature and humidity, along with a fourth climatic chamber that features a drive-on four poster vertical axis shaker that can provide the motion for simulated drive surfaces and suspension and body durability for applications like squeak and rattle. The fifth testing facility, featuring a multi-axis shaker table (MAST), is contained within a hemi-anechoic chamber. The MAST’s six-axis inverted hexapod design allows for products to be tested for structural durability and the detection of noise and vibration in three dimensions.

ACE is a multi-purpose centre with an area of approximately 16,300 square metres. It is located on the UOIT campus in Oshawa and is divided into two distinct sections: a core research facility and an integrated research and training facility. This $100 million dollar facility was developed in partnership with UOIT, General Motors of Canada, the Government of Ontario, the Government of Canada and the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE).

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Media contact
Bryan Oliver
Communications and Marketing
Ontario Tech University
905.721.8668 ext. 2209
bryan.oliver@uoit.ca