Structural Test Laboratory

The Structural Test group uses the following equipment to evaluate the durability of materials and manufactured components for a variety of industrial and government customers. Using state-of-the-art experimental techniques with this equipment, we perform mechanical testing to investigate and develop solutions to sponsor problems, design new products, or improve existing products. We simulate the environments that components must endure during their life spans. These conditions include temperature, humidity, pressure, loads, stress (static or cyclic). The lab is capable of handling full-size hardware to miniature test specimens.

• 17 programmable closed-loop, servo-hydraulic test systems
• 15 load frames, 5 T-slot tables, hydraulic actuator capacities up to 220 Kip
• Loading rates up to 350 in/sec (closed-loop), 800 in/sec (monotonic)
• Rotary actuators with torque from 25 in-lb to 75,000 in-lb
• Torsional loading rates up of 500°/sec up to 5000 in-lb and 100°/sec up to 70,000 in-lb
• Environmental chambers for temperatures from –320ºF to +2000ºF
• Material handling crane, capacity 2 tons

We also have a full complement of instrumentation to collect the necessary data:

• Strain gage extensometers
• Crack opening displacement transducers
• Optical non-contacting extensometer
• LVDT displacement transducers
• Axial and torsional load cells and load washers
• Pressure transducers
• Photo-elastic stress materials and analysis equipment
• High-speed strain gage signal conditioners
• High-speed, multi-channel digital data acquisition systems (sampling rates up to 5MS/s)
• Waveform function generators
• Multiple and single channel servo-hydraulic controllers
• LabView instrumentation software
• NIST-traceable load cell standards
• Gage blocks, calipers and micrometers
• Traveling microscopes
• Infared imaging camera
• High-speed photographic cameras
• Video camcorder