Customer Area

The available preparation halls are used not only for setup and dismantling of the measuring equipment (usually done by Rail Tec Arsenal), but can also be rented for retrofitting and optimisation work by our clients‘ technicians. The halls are secured by a separate access control system, which allows any of the three preparation halls to be made available exclusively to a specific customer, if required. Each preparation hall also houses an office room with telephone and PC with Internet access, a locker room and separate sanitary facilities.

Beside the possibility to prepare rail vehicles, the preparation hall III is especially designed for an efficient test preparation of aviation vehicles as well as truck, buses or cars.

Point and click into different areas.

A measuring station with a separate meeting room is available close to the entrance at each of the two climatic wind tunnels.

Along with office workplaces, file cabinets, wardrobes, PC with internet access and telephone, these facilities also accommodate the PCs for online monitoring of the tests. The measuring stations provide the opportunity to edit or process specific representations and evaluations, separately from the visualisation and evaluation of measurement data performed by the Rail Tech Arsenal engineers in the control room. The test object can be observed continuously with the help of an integrated video monitoring system featuring several zoom cameras and practically unlimited remote control capabilities in both climatic wind tunnels.

Since our clients often monitor the tests throughout the entire testing period, we make every effort to provide them with optimum working conditions. State-of-the-art computer and communication equipment is available for efficient work in continuous 24-hour operation.

Test section length                                        100 m

Maximum temperature gradient                   -45°C to +60°C

Maximum wind speed                                    300 km/h

Relative humidity at temperatures >10°C       10 to 98%

Solar simulation

A lateral solar panel is installed in both climatic wind tunnels to simulate solar radiation on vehicle side wall and roof areas at a 30° angle of incidence. The panels are arranged to cover the roof and one side of the vehicle to ensure homogenous radiation input. The intensity can be continuously adjusted from 250 W/m² to 1000 W/m². The solar radiation panel in the large CWT is 60 m long.

Another solar panel is installed in the flow area of each test section in order to simulate solar radiation on the front parts of a vehicle, such as the driver’s cab. The panel is arranged so as not to disturb flow characteristics and can be adapted to vehicle geometries, i.e. the angle of incidence can be varied from 0° to 90°. Again, the radiation intensity can be freely adjusted from 250 W/m² to 1000 W/m².

Rain, snow and ice simulation

The simulation of snow, rain and ice plays a major role in climatic testing along with temperature, humidity and solar radiation. The climatic wind tunnels are equipped with various devices specially designed for this purpose.

A spray rig can be inserted into both climatic wind tunnels so that the entire frontal part of the vehicle can be uniformly covered with rain, snow and ice. The ultra-fine snow and ice nozzles are designed to produce droplets down to sizes of < 20 µm (see Spray-tec droplet measuring instrument). This feature is especially important when carrying out tests for the aviation industry, where subcooled water droplets must be simulated.

Connections for individual nozzles are arranged along the test section to allow for local snow and ice application. The system can be used at air speeds of up to 160 km/h and temperatures down to -20 °C.

An additional rain rig for rain and ice tests is installed in the ceiling. It can be set to a precipitation rate of up to 80 l/(hm²) over the entire test section (in both climatic wind tunnels simultaneously). The rig sections in the tunnels are divided into segments of 15 m each, which can be activated or shut off separately.

For certain functional tests, e.g. on high-voltage disconnecting switches or current collectors, subcooled water must be used for the production of clear ice. The facility is equipped with a water cooling system and a pump unit for this purpose.

Roller dynamometer and exhaust system

The roller dynamometer installed in the front part of the test section allows braking and traction tests to be performed on rail vehicle bogies. The roller dynamometer consists of two pairs of rollers; one roller pair can be driven or braked (power max. 850 kW), while the other roller pair is a non-driven axle with adjustable distance to the driven roller pair.

An exhaust system with two outlets located each in the ceiling and wall in the front third of the test section is designed to discharge exhaust gases from combustion engines. If one ceiling and one wall exhaust outlet is used, the exhaust air volume discharged can be adjusted from 0.32 to 3.2 kg/s at 200°C. If only one wall exhaust outlet is used an exhaust air volume of up to 0.2 kg/s at 200°C is possible.

Test section length                                              33,8 m

Maximum temperature gradient                        -45°C to +60°C

Maximum wind speed                                         120 km/h

Relative humidity at temperatures > 10°C           10 to 98%

Solar simulation

A lateral solar panel is installed to simulate solar radiation on vehicle side wall and roof areas at a 30° angle of incidence. The panels are arranged to cover the roof and one side of the vehicle to ensure homogenous radiation input. The intensity can be continuously adjusted from 250 W/m to 1000 W/m. The solar radiation panel has a length of 30 m.

Another solar panel is installed in the flow area of each test section in order to simulate solar radiation on the front parts of a vehicle, such as the driver’s cab. The panel is arranged so as not to disturb flow characteristics and can be adapted to vehicle geometries, i.e. the angle of incidence can be varied from 0° to 90°. Again, the radiation intensity can be freely adjusted from 250 W/m to 1000 W/m.

Rain, snow and ice simulation

The simulation of snow, rain and ice plays a major role in climatic testing along with temperature, humidity and solar radiation. The climatic wind tunnels are equipped with various devices specially designed for this purpose.

A spray rig can be inserted into both climatic wind tunnels so that the entire frontal part of the vehicle can be uniformly covered with rain, snow and ice. The ultra-fine snow and ice nozzles are designed to produce droplets down to sizes of < 20 µm (see Spraytec droplet measuring instrument). This feature is especially important when carrying out tests for the aviation industry, where subcooled water droplets must be simulated.

Connections for individual nozzles are arranged along the test section to allow for local snow and ice application. The system can be used at air speeds of up to 160 km/h and temperatures down to -20 °C.
An additional rain rig for rain and ice tests is installed in the ceiling. It can be set to a precipitation rate of up to 80 l/(hm) over the entire test section (in both climatic wind tunnels simultaneously). The rig sections in the tunnels are divided into segments of 15 m each, which can be activated or shut off separately.

For certain functional tests, e.g. on high-voltage disconnecting switches or current collectors, subcooled water must be used for the production of clear ice. The facility is equipped with a water cooling system and a pump unit for this purpose.

Dynamometer, Idle City and exhaust system

The dynamometer for road vehicles installed in the central part of the test section has a drive power of 250 kW and a braking power of 300 kW.

The airflow to the front of the test object can be shut off completely by means of flaps installed at the head of the test section. This “Idle City System” is designed to simulate, e.g., a stop-and-go cycle with doors opening.

Two outlets, one located in the ceiling and one in the wall in the central part of the tunnel, are provided to discharge exhaust gases from combustion engines. If both exhaust outlets are used simultaneously, the exhaust air volume discharged can be adjusted from 0.32 to 3.2 kg/s at 200°C. If only the wall exhaust outlet is used, an exhaust air volume of up to 0.7 kg/s at 600°C is possible (in particular for road vehicles).

A soak room is directly attached to the smaller CWT. This can be used for temperature conditioning of vehicles (adaptation of material temperatures) but also for climatic cycling tests (e.g. thermal simulation of train passage through a tunnel in winter).

Both Climatic Wind Tunnels (large CWT and small CWT) can be upgraded into Icing Wind Tunnels by inserting a specially constructed icing rig. Thus RTA operates two open jet Icing Wind Tunnels (large IWT and small IWT). One with max. speed of 45 m/s and one with max. speed of 80 m/s. RTA is particularly specialised in the testing of helicopter and UAV components but the services are offered to all other transport systems that are exposed to icing conditions too.

The facilities can be used for testing engine air intakes, wing components, rotors, propellers etc. under EASA CS25/29 Appendix C and O conditions. If necessary, RTA also designs new test set ups and simulation capabilities together with the customer. Efficient test conditions for engineering or certification is offered throughout the year, independent of the prevalent climatic conditions.

Globally Unique Test Facility

Given the size and high cooling capacity of the IWT provides the only opportunity in the world to test engines of up to 1,5 MW (~2000 HP) at full throttle.

This is particularly significant because the formation of ice has a substantial influence on the performance of the engine and therefore realistic conclusions can only be drawn with an engine in operation. Without the contraction nozzle, the icing cross-section can even be extended to 16 m² at reduced ‘flight’ speeds. This enables icing tests to be carried out on whole helicopters, making the Vienna IWT the biggest of its kind in the world.

Further research work extended the IWT capabilities with a mass flow simulation (see picture on the left) equipment to simulate an adequate mass flow even without the engine what can be very helpful in the design phase.

The force measurement equipment  (see picture on the left) measures the effects of icing on lift and drag forces online under different angle of attack.

A bleed air system is available to simulate the bleed air of an engine for de-icing or anti-icing equipment.

A propeller-rotor test rig (see picture on the left) supports the development and certification of de-icing systems on rotors, propellers or pushers under defined icing conditions. All existing and future development is based on specific customer requests. 

Certification for Aviation

Safety is naturally a top priority in the aviation industry. When an aircraft flies through the upper cloud layers, super-cooled water droplets suddenly freeze and in just a few minutes form a centimetre thick layer of ice on critical components such as the engines, rotors, wings and sensors. In order to obtain certification for these components and the aircraft as a whole, manufacturers must demonstrate that sufficient protective measures have been implemented against icing and that the formation of ice will not endanger flight safety in any way.

To develop, test and certify its products, the aviation industry therefore urgently requires high-performance facilities where suitable icing tests can be carried out. Rail Tec Arsenal has taken on this challenge and invested around € 1.15 million in its new icing facility. Thanks to the mobile icing rig, the longest climatic wind tunnel in the world can be converted into the world’s largest icing wind tunnel for aircraft since 2014. Further research and investments in the last decade have gradually expanded the possibilities.

Ongoing research projects as e.g. in the field of natural like snow production (see picture on the left) or rain simulation will continue to extend the climatic and icing tests capabilities also in the future.

Cloud Simulation at Sea Level

Certification tests involve a simulation of different cloud types from cumulus- and stratus clouds to  freezing drizzle and freezing rain conditions at temperatures between -2°C and -30°C. The  challenges is to ensure the correct ratio of drops in the right size in the air and water droplets remaining liquid at sub-zero temperatures. This ‘cloud formation at sea level’ is achieved using elaborate water treatment, complex air pressure and system control. The mobile icing rig consists of 11 bars and a total of 264 nozzles in different type configuration which is introduced into the large or small climatic wind tunnel for the icing tests. This arrangement enables icing tests to be carried out at speed up to 80 m/s (300 kph) in a cross-section of 8.75 m². Regular calibrations according SAE ARP5905 and EN 17025 using high tech measurement equipment guaranty highest cloud simulation quality.