Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Current infrastructure concerns have highlighted the importance of fully understanding the constitutive responses of traditional materials as well as developing robust high performance materials that are both sustainable and durable. The requested 250 kN Dynamic Servo-Hydraulic Materials Test System will help us in these pursuits and improve our testing capabilities in concrete, polymers, steel, wood and composites. Examples of on-going research initiatives in the Department of Civil Engineering where the requested equipment will prove invaluable include the research in: novel fibers for fiber reinforced concrete, sustainable repair technologies, sensors for structural health monitoring, developing of design tools for timber joints, constitutive properties of reinforcing bars under complex strain histories, mechanically robust novel membrane materials for water treatment, the response of buried polyethylene pipes subjected to ground movements, and strain-rate sensitive responses of geosynthetics. The equipment will thus serve the research needs of f specialties within civil engineering including materials, structural, geotechnical, earthquake and environmental engineering. Due to a remarkable increase in need for advanced materials testing in various research streams and projects, the existing test machines have become highly inadequate. The only available displacement controlled machine is over 15 years old and caters to over 60 users annually. It is now prone to frequent breakdowns and these outages are causing inordinate amounts of delay in MASc and PhD theses. The Department recognizes this acute limitation in our testing capabilities and will provide $25,000 cash contribution towards the purchase of this equipment. The requested machine will significantly enhance the quality of HQP training and enable numerous multidisciplinary research initiatives.