Anker-Tec developed, manufactured, and installed the traverse system that moves the sensors inside Volkswagen’s wind tunnel in Wolfsburg — a structure made entirely of carbon fiber.
A unique feature of the traverse system designed, manufactured, and installed by Anker-Tec in Wolfsburg is its foldable design. When not in use, the system retracts neatly to the top, significantly reducing interference in the wind tunnel when its operation isn't required
Traverse speed Vmax
Accelaration a max
Repeated accuracy σR
bending on tip of mandrel (250Km/h)
bending on tip of mandrel (160Km/h)
Weight
Advantage: Weight
CFRP Structure: Aprox 8 Tons
Steel Structure: Aprox 50 Tons
Carbon fiber (CFRP) offers a drastic weight reduction compared to steel structures. A CFRP structure can weigh approximately 8 tons, while a comparable steel structure can reach 50 tons. This weight difference not only facilitates transportation and installation, but also reduces loads on foundations, load transmission to the structure, and system power requirements.
Advantage: Transparent
The truss structure, built with carbon fiber tubes, does not pose a barrier to sound. This significantly enhances the acoustic properties, allowing for improved sound measurements compared to standard steel installations.
Advantage: Less Vibrations
Damping: 20x Faster than steel
Effects: More abrupt positioning of components in highly dynamic applications
Carbon fiber exhibits superior vibration damping properties, being up to 20 times faster than steel in this regard. This translates into more abrupt and precise positioning of components in highly dynamic applications, improving stability and work quality, and reducing machinery wear. This also means higher process speed and suitable natural frequencies, such as 11 Hz in the case of VW.
Speed: Up to 150m/min
Acceleration: Up to 2G (20m/s²)
Jerk: Up to 100m/s³
The combination of lightweight design, astonishing accelerations, and the precision allowed by carbon fiber construction achieves process speeds superior to those typically found in this sector. This can reduce the total process time by more than half
Weight: 8x Less than Steel
Consumption: 8x Less than Steel
Time savings: Less than half of the Time
The energy consumption in wind tunnels is significantly reduced, not only because the positioning machine itself, being much lighter (up to eight times less due to its reduced weight), consumes considerably less power. Furthermore, by cutting the necessary measurement time by more than half, the operating time for the large, high-consumption fan (whose consumption is measured in gigawatts/gigawatt-hours) is also reduced by more than half.