They look like very different tracks and conditions
You Yangs:
The complex covers 930 hectares (@ 2300 acres) and has 80km (@ 50 miles) of test tracks and roads.
These consist of:
Constant Speed Track (CST)
The three-lane reinforced concrete CST is 4.8 km long. There is an additional 304 m lane for merging both on and off the track and a long lane for stopping and parking on the west straight. The 400 m radius turns are super elevated to provide a neutral speed of 164 km/h in lane three, the highest point of the CST. Water baths are provided for car and truck brake testing off the straight.
Basic Durability Road
The Basic Durability Road is a 3.6 km loop, which is situated over rolling terrain with mild to severe gradients. The maximum upgrade is 25 per cent and the maximum downgrade is 14 per cent. The road divides into an inner and outer loop around a steep hill. Total road length including both loops is 4.3 km.
Unimproved Road
The Unimproved Road is a 5 km wide loop. It is an all-weather road and consists of rolling terrain with a number of short steep grades. It is mainly a granite-type gravel surface but includes formed bitumen sections with ruts to simulate potholes and wash board sections set at 30 degrees to the line of traffic.
Mud or Salt Bath
The Mud or Salt Bath is a concrete structure 27.4 m long and 3.3 m wide. The bath has side walls that are 610mm high.
Skid Pads
There are two skid pad facilities, one is a dry skid pad and the other has an artificial wetting system that uses a central water cannon.
Water Bath
The Water Bath is a concrete structure with a 19 m entry and exit ramp. It is 2.2 m wide, 45 m long and has side walls that are 610mm high.
Sand Pit
This area consists of sand to a depth of 200 mm laid over a 30 mm asphalt surface. In turn the sand and asphalt are laid on a 200 mm bed of crushed rock.
Special Surfaces Road
This road is 760 m long with three wide lanes and four 20 m diameter turnaround areas. This road, with a range of surfaces from potholes to Belgian blocks to cobblestones and washboard road surfaces, is designed to test a vehicle’s body strength and durability.
Dust Test Road
The dust test road replicates the fine dusty roads of outback Australia, generally utilised for body sealing systems testing.
Corrosion Test Tracks
The Corrosion Environmental track events include:
Mud bath- modified brake wading bath
Salt bath, which can be set to variable depths
Salt spray highway, including an access road to obtain a stable test speed which leads to a covered 50 m roadway
incorporating salt water sprays and a specially profiled concrete surface designed to pool water and induce under body splash
Stone Peck Road is a single lane gravel road sheeted with crushed rock. The road incorporates several opposing curves in its
800 m loop. The road is designed to accentuate under body stone chipping to condition the test vehicle for corrosion
evaluation
Ride and Handling Roads
These tracks provide a secure environment for handling evaluations and ride tuning over normal and emergency driving situations and mimic other roads used at Ford testing facilities globally. The track is flat, providing wide-angle views and flat runoffs for safe high-speed handling. The handling areas include 19 corners. The outer track is 2.5 km long with 1.5 km of corners. The centre track is 1.1 km long.
Off-Road Road
The 'off-road' road is comprised of steep gradients, bumpy rutted sections, tight corners and surface changes useful for testing off-road capability of vehicles, particularly 4WDs.
Vehicle Dynamics Area (VDA)
The VDA provides an area for vehicle dynamics development testing and vehicle systems tests.
Low Friction Surfaces
The Brake Test Road consists of three 110 m road surfaces of different textures side by side and all serviced by banks of automatic water sprays, which maintain a constant film of water.
Gravel Road and Skid Pad
A flat gravel road includes a cone-shaped gravel skid pad with a diameter of 110 m. There is also a tight braking and handling gravel circuit for evaluating
ABS, traction control and braking in turns on a loose surface.
The Test facilities include:
High Speed Centre (HSC)
The HSC allows for high speed testing to be conducted without track closure or other driver-specific safety measures. HSC runs with minimal operator interaction, utilising fail-safe technology, automated vehicle fuelling and a robot driver. The HSC has the ability to operate up to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Emission Laboratory
The laboratory is approved by the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) in the field of chemical testing of automotive emissions. It houses extensive calibration, diagnostic and associated emissions testing equipment. The environmental test facility encompasses test cells used for dynamic and static high and low temperature vehicle testing.
The environmental cell is used mainly for engine cooling, climate control and other dynamic and static vehicle tests.
The cold soak facility is primarily used to pre-condition vehicles before testing in the environmental cell. It is also used for any other low temperature testing particularly engine cold start and drive-away, engine warm up testing and glass demisting performance.
Environmental Laboratory Test Facility
The Environmental Test Facility encompasses three test cells used for dynamic and static high and low temperature full vehicle testing. Each test cell has unique facilities designed to cover a wide range of development testing requirement.
Environmental Cell
The Environmental Cell is a fully equipped chassis dynamometer facility with dual temperature range incorporating extensive computer controlled test, measurement and control equipment with a temperature range of –18 degrees to 52 degrees C. Used mainly for engine cooling, climate control and other dynamic and static vehicle tests.
Hot Soak Cell
The Hot Soak Cell is a supplemental chamber for the Environmental Facility and as such has many of the functions of the main environmental cell without the sub ambient temperature control. This cell is widely used for static vehicle hot soak testing, however can accommodate dynamic testing if required. It has an ambient temperature range up to 50 degrees C.
Cold Soak Cell
The cold soak facility is used to pre-condition vehicles before testing in other cells. It is also used for any other low-temperature testing, particularly engine cold start and driveaway, engine warm up testing and glass demisting performance. It has an ambient temperature range to minus 30 degrees C.
Climate Control Laboratory
The laboratory is primarily used for climate control test and development work and comprises of two rooms, each capable of housing a test vehicle and test equipment. It has an air-flow test area designed to provide repeatable ambient conditions for testing. An air conditioning development area focuses on the development, modification and testing of air conditioning and components in conjunction with air flow.
Water Flow Test Area
The Water Flow rig is used to record:
Engine and heater water flow and water pressure characteristics
Heater performance at controlled water flow and water temperature
Temperature modulation and distribution.
Vehicle Semi-Anechoic Chamber (VSAC)
The VSAC is designed to replicate a moving vehicle during open-road driving.
Some advantages of the VSAC include:
Front and rear axles can be independently driven and tested/developed as singular contributing systems
Testing can continue 24 hours a day, seven-days a week irrespective of ambient lighting conditions
Vehicle top speed testing can be conducted without track closures
Operator/driver variability is eliminated through application of driver robot
Improved prototype security due to reduction in equivalent on-road testing
Kinematics and Compliance Rig
The K&C rig determines elasto-kinematic properties of vehicle suspensions. A vehicle suspension can be loaded with cornering forces, braking forces as well as wheel alignment torques and simulated road undulations. Under these loads various characteristics can be measured.
Advanced Centre for Automotive Research and Testing (ACART) Wind Tunnel
ACART has a range of functions to replicate wind speeds of up to 250 km/h and sun load simulations on vehicles and vehicle air conditioning systems.
Squeaks and Rattles Facility
The facility is a “drive on” full vehicle, environmental facility. A road simulator is capable of accurately reproducing S&R evaluation roads e.g. washboard, cobblestones, pavement or Belgium blocks, and is also capable of simulating over 90 per cent of the Proving Ground durability test routes.
Vehicle Crash Barriers
The crash barrier is a 203 tonne block of reinforced concrete set into the ground.
A wide concrete apron and 6 m pit are located in front of the barrier to allow for filming of the underside of the vehicle during impact. The 73 m long concrete approach road has a channel down the centre, whereby the tow cable and vehicle tow trolley run. A high-speed camera running at 100 frames per second can record any impacts.