Structural Laboratories

The Structural Laboratories are a variety of brand new facilities for large-scale testing and are unique to Idaho. They feature three separate lab areas: the Structural Laboratory, Structural Extensions Laboratory, and Structural Dynamics Laboratory

Structural Laboratory

The Structural Laboratory is located in the Engineering Research Complex and includes equipment capabilities such as a strong floor and hydraulic actuators.

Capable of testing specimens up to 38 ft. in length and 14 ft. height
Total Lab Area = 1520 sq. ft
Strong floor is 2 ft. deep and 875 sq. ft of structural floor
374 anchor sleeves (each rated 100 kips) in grids of 18in
The hydraulic actuators can collectively produce force of 1.3 million lbs.
Heavy duty steel reaction frames designed for 400 kips loading
Dual servo-valve hydraulic actuators (static and dynamic), each with 160 kips capacity and ±12”stroke
Fatigue testing machine and frame with servo-valve MTS hydraulic actuator (22 kips capacity, ±3” stroke, 31 in/sec velocity, up to 50 Hz frequency)
Tinius Olsen Universal Testing Machine, 120 kips capacity and ±12” stroke
Enerpac ram, 440 kips capacity, and 6” stroke
Hydraforce hollow ram, 220 kips capacity, and 3” stroke
Six servo-valve hydraulic actuators (static) with 10 kips capacity and ±4” stroke
Several hydraulic pumps, jacks, and accessories
Controller system for hydraulic actuators with data acquisition for 20 channels
Brand new Campbell Scientific data acquisition system with 96 channels, and up to 800 Hz sampling rate
Vishay data acquisition system (20 channels)
Creep Testing Machine and Frame
Forklift, 5 kips capacity, and 83” clearance
Gantry crane, 8 kips capacity, and 144” clearance
High Resolution Camera
Several load cells, up to 300 kips capacity
Accelerometers, Load Cells, LVDTs, Potentiometers, and Strain Gauges

New additions to the laboratory include:

Two 225-kip tension compression hollow Interface load cells
12 cube concrete mixer
10,000 lb. forklift
200-ton 12" stroke hydraulic cylinder
100-ton 4" hollow hydraulic cylinder
Five desktop computers
Three laptop computers
Campbell Scientific DAQ system, CR6 Datalogger, 3 CDM A116
3000 PSI 6 gallons per minute pump
2.5-million-pound isolation frame for compression testing of high capacity components
1200-ton Trompler Fluid Power hydraulic cylinder
10,000 PSI hydraulic pump
2.5-million-pound Interface load cell

Structural Extensions Laboratory

The Structural Extensions Laboratory is located in the Indoor Disaster Response Complex (DRC). Some equipment capabilities include an isolation frame and drop hammer.

2.5 Million Isolation Frame
2.5 Million Pound Hydraulic Jack
2.5 Million Pound Load Cell
20-foot, 2-Ton Capacity Drop Hammer
High-Bay Area for large/full-scale mockups

Structural Dynamics Laboratory

The Structural Dynamics Laboratory is located in the Engineering Research Center (ERC). This facility is used for shake table testing of structural and non-structural models.

Uni-directional horizontal shake table with MTS servo-valve actuator, 10 kips capacity, ±3” stroke, 31 in/sec velocity, 50 Hz 4.5 ft. x 4.5 ft.
Uni-directional vertical shake table with MTS servo-valve actuator, 3 kips capacity, ±3” stroke, 31 in/sec velocity, 50 Hz, 2 ft. x 2 ft.
Clearance height of 12 ft.
Two Spectral Dynamics PUMA Controller software integrated with data acquisition system (10 channels), antialiasing filters, and sampling rate in excess of 2,000 Hz
Two 50HP powerful hydraulic pumps with 22 GPM capacity and manifolds for the hydraulic actuators
One extra servo-valve MTS dynamic actuator, 10 kips capacity and ±3” stroke, 31 in/sec velocity
Accelerometers, Load Cells, LVDTs, Potentiometers, and Strain Gauges
State-of-the-art Laser Vibrometer Test Setup, data acquisition, controller, and all others accessories