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UCL CEGE's new laboratory for large-scale structural and environmental testing is based at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London
Based at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London, UCL CEGE's new laboratory for large-scale structural and environmental testing occupies 400 m2 plan area and a ceiling height of 9 m at Here East. In addition to the test facilities, there is an environmentally controlled curing room of 144 m3 (6 m x 4 m plan x 6 m high) for fabrication of cementitious and masonry specimens, continuous with a similar chamber equipped with a concrete mixer for manufacturing beams, columns, etc.
The Structures test rig accommodates specimens up to 9 m long, 4 m wide, 1.5 m high. Using state-of-the-art servo-hydraulic actuators, this facility can apply quasi-static or dynamic loads up to 1,200 kN, and can be reconfigured to apply high-cycle fatigue loads over several tens of millions of cycles. Artefacts ranging from prestressed stone beams to timber-concrete composite building floor modules, and bridge specimens or critical bridge components can be tested in this facility. A 7 m high, 5 m wide, 14 m long crane of 10 T lifting capacity has been constructed around the rig, to permit lifting of large specimens prefabricated elsewhere. The rig is serviced by a high-resolution, high-speed data acquisition system which accurately records specimen behaviours during testing.
There is also an integrated environmental-mechanical rig offering large-scale testing for masonry wall specimens and other large structural element under monotonic and low-frequency cyclic loading – the only such facility in the UK capable of producing full-scale experiments on various types of masonry material under different loading and environmental conditions.
The 125m3 (5 m x 5 m x 5 m) environmental chambers can produce outdoor and indoor conditions and enclose a rig that accommodate specimens up to 4x4 m subjected to up to 300KN horizontal and vertical loading.