Engineering Research Equipment Grant: A Shell Element Tester

休斯顿大学正在建造一个大型测试设施，以测试全尺寸的钢筋混凝土板在平面内载荷下的性能。它由37个100吨的液压千斤顶嵌入一个大型钢反应框架。千斤顶由一个复杂的液压系统控制，在面板上产生平面内的法向和剪切应力。将对钢筋混凝土板进行广泛的试验，以产生软化桁架模型理论发展所需的材料规律。该设备将升级该设施，使其具有应用面外载荷的能力，包括弯矩、扭转矩和面外剪应力。这些平面外装载将由17个额外的60吨千斤顶提供。由于壳结构的元件面内和面外应力都会发生，因此升级后的设备被称为壳单元测试仪。

A large testing facility is being completed at the University of Houston to test full-sized reinforced concrete panels under in-plane loadings. It consists of thirty-seven 100-ton hydraulic jacks embedded in a large steel reaction frame. The jacks are controlled by a sophisticated hydraulic system to produce in-plane normal and shear stresses in a panel. Extensive tests of reinforced concrete panels will be conducted to generate material laws which are required in the development of the softened truss model theory. The equipment will upgrade the facility to have the capability to apply out-of-plane loadings, including bending moments, torsional moments and out-of-plane shear stresses. These out-of-plane loadings will be supplied by seventeen additional 60-ton jacks. Since both in-plane and out-of-plane stresses occur in an element of a shell structure, the upgraded facility is known as a shell element tester.