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

The Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia has a 450 sq m high head-room structural testing laboratory containing a 9 m x 22 m reaction floor which can be used with various moveable reaction frames and hydraulic loading systems for large-scale substructure testing. The laboratory is equipped with a state-of-the-art MTS FlexTest GT Controller for structural testing with optional real-time hybrid control capabilities. In addition, the laboratory has a 4.9 m high L-shaped reaction wall (9.3 m x 4.3 m) and a 96-channel National Instruments SCXI data acquisition system. The presence of the reaction wall, state-of-the-art controller and data acquisition system make the laboratory ideal for high-performance testing of structural components subjected to large earthquake demands. Unfortunately the laboratory is hampered by lacking of high-quality high-capacity actuators for substructure experimental testing. The laboratory has one new 1000 kN actuator with dynamic capabilities which was purchased using past CFI grant. With the exception of this actuator, the operational actuators available in the laboratory are 18 to 35 years old. Many of these actuators do not have servo-values, displacement transducers or load cells which is necessary to be used in modern experimental testing. This proposal seeks to complement the currently available equipment with two additional high-quality high-capacity (1000 kN) hydraulic actuators. With the requested hydraulic actuators versatile experimental testing of different structural configurations will become possible. This will significantly strengthen British Columbia and Canada's ability to conduct state-of-the-art experimental testing to evaluate the hazard from earthquakes.