Blume Center Testing Facility

The Blume Earthquake Engineering Center testing facility offers a wide array of experimental capabilities.  Our suite of MTS test frames supports capacities ranging from 100 N to 1000 kN under monotonic, cyclic, and fatigue loading protocols.  Specialized grips and supports provide the ability to test specimens ranging from rope and fabric, to standard coupons, to 3m-long beams in tension, compression, and bending.  In addition to our test frames, the Blume lab contains two stand-alone actuators (67 kN and 445 kN) that can be configured to test vertical assemblies, such as beam-column joints and walls.  Finally, the lab facility itself contains a () x () strong floor to support reaction frames.

The various data acquisition systems in the Blume Center support strain gages, thermocouples, linear transducers, accelerometers, external load cells, and extensometers.  Supplementing these instruments is a versatile digital imaging system capable of tracking displacements and strains within a specimen.