The Structural Engineering Laboratory is a large-scale structural testing facility with a 1,000 sq. ft. strong floor and a 3-DOF servo-hydraulic controlled test system. A 104-channel data acquisition system from Pacific Instruments is available for instrumentation data collection in lab and field tests. Available transducers in the lab include load cells, linear variable differential transformers, linear potentiometer, strain gages, thermocouples, and accelerometers. A SATEC servo-hydraulic testing machine can do both tension and compression testing up to 480 kips. There are also a variety of reaction frames for large-scale structural testing. An overhead crane with 5-ton lift capacity is used to move test specimens around the lab.

The lab also has equipment for fabricating and testing piezoelectric paint, including a ball mill, paint disperser, ultrasonic particle de-agglomerator, paint applicators, 8-channel digital oscilloscope, oil-bath poling device, high-voltage DC power supply (up to 50 kV), HP4194A impedance analyzer, Agilent function generator, d33 meter, 16-channel NI PCI data acquisition system, digital multimeters, charge amplifiers, and many electronic accessories.

Additionally, the lab features a facility for special structures testing and the development of advanced sensor technology and innovative damping technology on relatively large-scale civil and aerospace structures. 

Yunfeng Zhang

Professor
301-405-1955
zyf@umd.edu