New Volkswagen Test Facility

More than ever, the reduction of costs through time-optimised processes during the development of a vehicle is a decisive factor for its success. This also refers to testing the effects of various climatic conditions as they exist in different regions of the earth. Several years ago, Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, Germany started considerations as to how to minimise expensive prototype testing in different parts of the world by indoor-tests, providing the same climatic conditions in a Laboratory. The aim was furthermore to become independent of seasonal and daytime influences by creating reproducible ambient conditions, to economise travel and transportation costs and to reduce time losses between the test cycles. The result is a test centre in Wolfsburg, built during 2004 and 2006, in the form of a test plant named "Hall 68", where nearly all climatic and environmental conditions occurring in different parts of the world can be simulated. In addition to six temperature or climatic test chambers for complete vehicles, it also includes a test chamber for engines. Part of the vehicle test chambers is equipped with dynamometers and can simulate altitude conditions and the air-flow on vehicles ranging in size from small cars to utility vehicles. In order to utilise the test chambers to their maximum capacity, the vehicles are preconditioned in separate soak boxes. Thereafter they are transferred to the test chambers through the connecting "dry zone", where the air is constantly maintained at a low dew point to prevent formation of dew, frosting and ice. The tests are coordinated, carried out and monitored from five control rooms. Bild 1: Volkwagen's cooling and climatic testing plant "Hall 68" in Wolfsburg Specifications of the Test centre Total area: 5,400 m² No. of test chambers: 7 (including 1 engine test bench) No. of soak boxes: 12 Total investment: approx. 30 million Euros The provision of the test equipment for a complete test plant of such magnitude was a unique challenge for the engineers at Weiss Umwelttechnik GmbH in Reiskirchen-Lindenstruth. The project was to be implemented within just two years from the date of award of the contract until acceptance through the customer. As its execution required carefully co-ordinated planning and intense co-operation among all departments involved, the responsibilities were split and distributed to three project managers. The engineers had to ensure that the individual test chambers meet the technical requirements and can be integrated into a well-networked overall system. The project management also had to take care of aspects of electrical and control engineering as well as static and logistics. The requirements of Volkswagen AG were realized by a new 3-storey building where the middle floor houses the test facilities and control rooms. The machinery for refrigeration, fresh air conditioning, etc. is located on the ground floor and the top floor accommodates offices and conference rooms. The layout and dimension of the test chambers in the middle floor level enables an optimised testing of the whole range of Volkswagen cars from the Fox through to transportation vehicles. In addition, its compact layout simplifies the daily testing procedures and as a result, Hall 68 is an extremely service-friendly facility. Preconditioning of the cars prior to a test takes place in one of twelve soak boxes. To increase their capacity, parking systems inside the boxes allow the treatment of two cars simultaneously. Thus an additional 20% of tests can be prepared on 24 parking bays in a 2-shift operation every day. The temperatures inside the boxes cover the entire range of the different test chambers. Bild 2: Soak boxes with parking system Technical data of the "Soak boxes" Number: 12 Parking bays: 24 Dimensions (each box): 3.9 x 4.4

For more information on New Volkswagen Test Facility talk to Weiss Technik UK Ltd