Engineering Research Equipment Grant: A Shell Element Tester

一个大型的测试设施正在完成， 休斯顿将在飞机下测试全尺寸钢筋混凝土面板 装载量。 它由37个100吨液压千斤顶组成， 在一个大型钢反应框架中。 千斤顶由一个 先进的液压系统，可产生面内法向和剪切 面板中的应力。 钢筋混凝土板的广泛测试将 进行，以产生所需的材料的法律， 软化桁架模型理论的发展。 该设备将升级设施，使其能够应用于 平面外载荷，包括弯矩、扭矩和 面外剪切应力。 这些平面外载荷将 由十七个额外的六十吨千斤顶提供 由于在飞机上和 面外应力发生在壳体结构的元件中， 升级后的设备称为壳单元测试器。

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.