Material Testing Lab (EN4 - 130)

The Instron testing laboratory is equipped with 12 servo hydraulics test frames with capabilities ranging from 22 Kips, 55 Kips and 110 Kips.. These frames are equipped with thermo chambers with temp range from –75 to 700 Deg. F. All the chambers are connected to a 3000 Gallons Liq. Nitrogen tank. These test frames can be used to do a variety of tests such as ILS, Short Beam Shear, Compression, Tensile and Flexural strength at Ambient as well as High and Sub-Zero temperatures. Other capabilities of these test frames include fatigue and random loading tests. This laboratory which has cost over 1 million dollars to establish has been used in the past several years to do long term durability testing of composite panels for NASA's High Speed Research (HSR) program as well as Boeing's ACT program. In addition to employing several students as lab assistants during these projects, this facility was also extensively used for two summer training programs conducted in 1997 and 98 for students.