The following laboratories operate under the umbrella of the Center and are located on campus in the W. R. Woolrich Laboratory.
Composite Materials Laboratory
The laboratory houses a complete fabrication facility, nondestructive evaluation equipment and loading devices. The equipment pool is made up of:
In-plane biaxial shear/compression machine
Biaxial Arcan test fixtures
Ultrasonic C-scanner
Acoustic emission equipment
16 x 16 in lamination press
700°F x 400 psi autoclave
Fracture Mechanics Laboratory
This laboratory has been used for fracture studies ranging from thin film blistering to J-integral testing of tough metallic components. Although a number of standard loading devices and fixtures are used, several novel devices have also been developed. These include:
Mixed-mode delamination tester
Blister test facility
Compact tension and shear tester for rubber
Mixed-mode loading fixture for laminates
Three and four-point bend fixtures
Crack opening interferometer
Moiré interferometers
Digital Image Analysis
Nano compression device
Mechanics of Solids and Materials Laboratory
This is a general purpose laboratory used for mechanical characterization of solids and material. The equipment includes standard testing machines and several custom built devices for specific experiments.
200 kip. servohydraulic uniaxial testing machine
300 kip. x 20 ksi axial compression x external pressure biaxial machine
50 kip x 22 kip in. axial/torsion machine
40 kip electromechanical uniaxial testing machine
2 x 22 kip servohydraulic uniaxial testing machines
40 kip electromechanical uniaxial testing machine
Creep test frames and chambers Temperature and humidity chambers (5)
Gas dilatometer
Hardness tester
Charpy impact tester
Bending fatigue tester
Biaxial crushing device for cellular materials
A bend-stretch forming machine
Infrared camera and associated data acquisition/reduction system
Mechanics of Offshore Structures Laboratory
This dedicated laboratory houses several custom testing facilities for studies of buckling and collapse of tubular structures under loads experienced in offshore and downhole applications. It includes the following:
10,000 psi, 35 ft long, 14 in diameter pressure chamber
9,000 psi, 13 ft long, 7 in diameter pressure chamber
3,000 psi, 10 ft long, 8 in diameter pressure chamber
A combined tension/external pressure testing facility
A bending/external pressure testing facility
A 52 in diameter model tube reeling testing facility
Center Computer Facilities
The laboratories are equipped with ten computerized data acquisition systems available for use in all experiments. These are connected to the Center’s own independently operated computer laboratory. The computer laboratory currently houses a number of RISC 6000 machines and Sparc Workstations. These are used to run in-house and commercial finite element codes. In addition, access to the UT System Supercomputing facility is available for larger jobs.
Supporting Facilities
The Center was the driving force behind the development of a modern 3-man machine shop which is used to build new testing machines, loading jigs and fixtures and for fabricating specimens. In addition, an electronics shop with one technician serves the electronic needs of the Center by developing new devices (controllers, amplifiers, filters, etc.) and maintaining and trouble shooting existing equipment.
