The Solid Mechanics Lab includes five materials testers with real-time DAQ software, a column-testing machine, a beam deflection apparatus, and a strain gauge apparatus. A 22 kN universal testing machine was also acquired for instructional purposes. A 500 kN universal testing machine was recently acquired at a cost of $70,000 to improve the department’s capabilities in materials testing, and it is installed in the Senior Design Lab. This machine will be used for instructional purposes, research work, and to serve the needs of the local industry. A 72-inch smart TV monitor and a large whiteboard are also provided for instructional purposes.
Chatillon Force Tester
The Chatillon force tester is a hand-operated vertical benchtop manual force testing machine capable of doing both tensile and compression testing. The maximum capacity is 500 lbf or 2.5 kN. A digital force gauge is equipped in the stand. The force gauge has a maximum capacity of 200 lbf (890 N) and an accuracy of 0.3% at full scale. The data sampling and capture rate of the force gauge is 1000 Hz.
ADMET Dual Column Tester
ADMET eXpert 2600 25KN is a dual Column Tester that tackles the toughest tests with its superior axial alignment, stiffness, and crosshead guidance. This eXpert system is capable of performing compression, tension, and flexure tests. It provides the flexibility to test adhesives, biomaterials, composites, elastomers, metals, films, packaging, plastics, textiles wires, webbing and other materials with confidence.
Strain Gauge Apparatus
The strain gauge apparatus has an electronic strain display. The connection is a fully-open bridge with dummy resistors to allow quarter, half, and full-bridge connection. Experiments to measure stress and strain in bending, torsion, and tensile systems can be performed. This unit includes a versatile data acquisition system.
PASCO Comprehensive Materials Testing Unit
The PASCO comprehensive materials testing unit can measure force with a 7100 N load cell. The displacement is measured using an optical encoder. A wide variety of experiments are performed for the solid mechanics lab using this setup. It is a hand-operated unit, and the data can be recorded and analyzed through PASCO’s Capstone software. The unit has a wide range of samples and adapters to perform tensile testing, compression testing, and bending testing.
Static Force Demonstration Unit
The static force demonstration unit is a simple static system that demonstrates the equilibrium of parallel forces. The main frame has a magnetic work board where different static components can be snapped on. A set of loads and load hangers are included in this setup.
Beam Deflection Unit
The beam deflection unit benchtop setup is used to conduct experiments for simply-supported beams and cantilever beams. The test beam is mounted on the frame to conduct experiments. The setup has dial gauges, test beams, two knife edges, position indicator, etc.
Strut Buckling Apparatus
The strut buckling apparatus is a benchtop single-column apparatus used to conduct experiments related to Euler’s equation at different end conditions. It’s a hand operated machine with a maximum loading capacity of 1 kN. Struts up to 1m long and with different slenderness ratios can be set up. Eccentric loading conditions and free and fixed ending conditions can be achieved through adaptors. Weight hangers and weights are included in this setup.
Torsion Testing Unit
The torsion testing unit is a benchtop-type machine designed to do torsion experiments with a maximum capacity of 50 Nm. The maximum length of the rod specimen is 300 mm. The precision strain is measured through a torsion meter. The digital readout has precision of 0.1 Nm. The torque is applied manually. A set of various specimens were also purchased for the lab.
Shimadzu Universal Testing Machine
The Shimadzu universal testing machine is an industrial-grade universal testing machine with a capacity of 500 kN and a maximum ram stroke of 250 mm. Due to lack of space in the Solid Mechanics Lab, this machine has been set up in the Design Lab in the Engineering Building. It came with a front-opening hydraulic grip. Specimen diameter of the machine is from 12 to 50 mm (grip face) for rods and up to 45 mm for flat specimens. For compression testing, the maximum plate diameter is 120 mm.
