Text written in Basque and translated automatically by Elia without any subsequent editing. SEE ORIGINAL

Technology to compete

The new installation of Epsilon Euskadi opened its doors last autumn and, although it still does not work 100%, we could see one of its star technologies in action: the wind tunnel. with a length of 48 meters, it is the most modern in Europe.

BEGO BRIDGE; Elhuyar Foundation. We are located
in the Technology Park of Miñao, the innovation centre recently opened by Epsilon Euskadi. They make racing cars here. in 2008, this one we see here was taken to the 24 hours of Le Mans. Epsilon’s goal is to participate in Formula 1 in the future. The key to responding to this technological challenge is in this residence. Here we will find furnaces for the manufacture of carbon fiber parts and the most modern wind tunnel in Europe. Let's check it out.

the 2010 season is in full swing at Epsilo. This year it will be in 4 races.

JOAN VILLADELPRAT; President of Epsilon Euskadi: We are in the workshop where we assemble and manage racing cars.
THE BEGO BRIDGE: Let me introduce you to Immanuel. he's a 2-liter team leader.
IMANOL ZURIKARAI: Good morning to you.
THE BEGO BRIDGE: Good morning, Immanuel.

Despite being a car driver, the cars that will lead to this year’s tests have not been made by Epsilon.

JOAN VILLADELPRAT; President of Epsilon Euskadi: we are preparing the cars for 2010. First, we completely dismantled the cars. We analyze them and see how they are assembled. We know what the mechanics are like and we start making our preparations, our little tunings. We can't change the engineering of these cars, but we can adjust it. That’s our job in this race.

IMANOL ZURIKARAI; Epsilon Euskadi: And this for what? To prepare the car. Because on the one hand, you need reliability. Also, it should be noted that at this type of speed a driver goes inside and it is very important from a safety point of view that the car is safe. In the end, our desire, as we always say, is to be fast. And that work starts here. Here, for example, you see the chassis naked. We've removed all the paint. Now to paint again. Painting the car has its difficulty, because what we are looking for is that the weight is as low as possible and that is why the painting is given as little as possible. Only on the sides that you see there. We don't paint the car on unseen areas.

The car that Epsilon drove to the 24 hours of Le Mans is in the same workshop.

IMANOL ZURIKARAI; Epsilon Euskadi: It is designed by us and made by us. This is the first such project in the country. It’s quite interesting, because even if you don’t provide a Formula 1 car from the outside, the technology inside it, the materials used, for example carbon chassis, carbon brakes... Parts made of titanium... This technology is the Formula 1 technology.

BEGO BRIDGE; Elhuyar Foundation: you participated in 2008, but you haven't participated since then, have you?

IMANOL ZURIKARAI; Epsilon Euskadi: We did that in 2008. The results were quite good, even though it was a new car. Epsilon Euskadi wanted us to prove to the world that we were capable of making a car. We believe that we achieved it and the project for 2011 continues and that is the desire, to make a car like this again and show us what we are capable of.

Students of the Master offered by Epsilon in conjunction with Mondragon Unibertsitatea carry out internships in competitions.

JOAN VILLADELPRAT; President of Epsilon Euskadi How
to say, the contest..., is a kind of incentive for students.

Both Epsilon’s new designs and customer models are put to the test in the wind tunnel. This gigantic laboratory machine is a kind of rectangle of 150 meters long, which is used for aerodynamic investigations.

JOAN VILLADELPRAT; President of Epsilon Euskadi: We are in the bowels of the beast. it is equipped with an electric motor with a power of 1,000 horsepower and its arms are 4.25 meters in length. It turns around and blows the wind inside.

The air generated by the turbine is blown into the tunnel. But during the tests the wind must have certain characteristics. It must be constant throughout the perimeter of the tunnel and there can be no turbulence.

IMANOL ZURIKARAI; Epsilon Euskadi: What we especially need is not to have turbulence, which is why the section increases. Then we have to channel that air. We know there's a control room, but before that there's a radiator to control the temperature. What we can do is, if the wind is too cold, heat a piece or cool it down to get the temperature we want.

The air exits the turbine at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour. In the test room, on the other hand, you can reach speeds of up to 275 kilometers per hour. The dimensions of the tunnel vary to increase the wind speed.

IMANOL ZURIKARAI; Epsilon Euskadi: This section decreases seven times. So what do we get? The engine moves air at 40 kilometers per hour, and when it decreases here, we multiply its speed seven times. That's how we get to 220 kilometers or 275 kilometers. There, in the test room.

The wind tunnel is a laboratory instrument. It's a giant machine that produces wind in a controlled state. The air is thrown against the models under investigation, which makes it possible to improve the design. Wind turbine, vehicle and building designs are tested in wind tunnels.

JOAN VILLADELPRAT; President of Epsilon Euskadi: This is the control room. Down below, we have people who control the tunnel. That is, they control the wind speed, the pressure, the temperature, the belt speed. And here, we control the balance data. The Le Mans car is currently being assembled, as we continue to research and develop it.

Despite its closed structure, the test area is visible to researchers. Models of research prototypes are placed in the test room. Made to scale. The room is four metres wide, three metres high and eight metres long. The floor also moves.

JOAN VILLADELPRAT; President of Epsilon Euskadi: It is important to move the floor. In fact, this helps to make the data we obtain as real as possible. In real life, the ground and the air do not move, at least theoretically, and cars, motorcycles or bicycles move. Here we place the vehicle on a scale and move the air and the floor. With that we get the same real-life effect. It is very important to move the floor. The floor turns the wheels, the wheels create turbulence, the air passes under the car...

Both the test site and the model itself are packed with sensors to get as much data as possible. The data is then processed in a supercomputer. Once the test period is over, the time of manufacture will come.

IMANOL ZURIKARAI; Epsilon Euskadi: You need a mold to make carbon parts, and what we do here is mechanize the negative of that mold. This is how the actual mold is made, and the pieces are placed in this mold to be made and carbon is provided in this mold. And to provide carbon, this work is done in the clean room behind us here. This is where carbon is placed inside the mold to take the shape of the piece. And this is, on the one hand, carbon and, on the other hand, resin, and when all this is given we have to introduce it into some ovens called autoclaves. There the pieces are baked, then the carbon really reaches its hardness, and this process is special because the temperature is 270 degrees and the pressure is 16 bar. We can include pieces of three meters in diameter and five meters in length. We have two ovens of this type, and another smaller one, which reaches 500 degrees and is used for research. In these ovens we make all the pieces of carbon. On the one hand, the chassis are carbon and also the body is carbon and we can do it here.

Epsilon’s work is reflected in the trophy room. Eleven international titles in five and a half years.