Facilities & Equipment

Heated press, for press-claving and compression molding (50 tons)
Liquid resin infusion (VaRTM)
Autoclave
Quasi-static testing, electromechanical test frame capable of 56,000 lbf
Fatigue testing, hydraulic test frame capable of 22,000 lbf
Digital Image Correlation System, for full-field 3-D strain measurements
Non-destructive inspection, via C-scan ultrasound, pulse-echo in immersion tank
Fume hood, for acid digestion
Optical microscopy, 8x-1000x magnification and specialized in UV capabilities
Specimen preparation stations, including rotary saw, drill press, sander, mounting and polishing
Variety of special-purpose molding tools and industry standard test fixtures

Lightning strike generator, for simulated lightning strikes up to 100 kA and 44 kV
10” bore gas gun, capable of testing simulated thrown tire and bird strike up to 600 ft/sec
3.5” bore gas gun, capable of testing simulated engine fragment and hail strike up to 600 ft/sec
Pneumatic crash sled, capable of crushing full scale vehicle structures
Drop tower, for low-velocity foreign object impact damage infliction
High-speed videocamera, capable of 1,000,000 frames/ sec.

(click picture to see larger image)


Plaque and signage of the ACLS	View of the manufacturing and characterization facility

Another view of the manufacturing and characterization facility	View of the impaction dynamics research facility

Graduate students Bonnie Wade and Francisco Deleo preparing for liquid resining fusion	Graduate student Hirohide Kawakami following a lightning strike test

Graduate students Francesco Deleo and Jonah Hein performing digital image correlation testing