Back to Mechanical Engineering or
Vince
Caccese's Home Page|
|
HYBRID STRUCTURES LABORATORY
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Dr. Vincent Caccese, Director
Mission
The mission of the hybrid structures laboratory is to accelerate the development of knowledge and technology is the area of structural mechanics. In addition this knowledge will be used to assist outside businesses to create innovative products and services. Additional goals of the laboratory are to promote economic development in Maine through growing this critically needed economic sector, creating jobs, and positioning Maine as a leader in the development of products, strategies and technology in this emerging area of need, to provide a high-level laboratory and consultation resource that would be readily accessible to businesses, entrepreneurs, and researchers throughout Maine and beyond and to sustain and expand research and development in this area.
Description of Facilities
The Hybrid Structures Laboratory is housed in the University of Maine Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC) contains these major facilities.
| MTS 458 Universal Reaction Frame System | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axial Actuators | +/- 22,000 lb Capacity and a 6 in. Stroke | |||
| +/- 55,000 lb Capacity and a 6 in. Stroke | ||||
| +/- 55,000 lb Capacity and a 20 in. Stroke | ||||
| +/- 165,000 lb Capacity and a 6 in. Stroke | ||||
| +/- 300,000 lb Capacity and a 20 in. Stroke | ||||
| Work Envelope | LWH = 11′X13′X20′ | |||
| Hydraulic Capacity | 10,000PSI | |||
| Data Acquisition | 16 bit, 5kHz | |||
| Waveform Generation | Analog | |||
| MTS 810 Material Testing System | |
|---|---|
| Axial Actuator | +/- 110,000 lb Capacity and a 6 in. Stroke |
| Work Envelope | LWH = 30” X 30” X 83” |
| Hydraulic Capacity | 10,000 PSI |
| Frame Capacity | 110,000 lb |
| Data Acquisition | 16 Bit, 5 kHz |
| Waveform Generation | 32 bit digital |
| Vibration Testing Systems | |
|---|---|
| LDS V875LS Shaker Table | 8,000lb Capacity, 1 to 3,000 Hz in 3 axes, 76.2 mm stroke |
| MB Electronics Exciter Table | 250lb Capacity |
| MB Electronics Exciter Table | 25lb Capacity |
| Modal Test Equipment | Spectral Dynamics Jaguar 100 channel |
| SigLab 2 Channel with MATLAB Integration | |
| DSpace digital signal processor | |
| CSZ Tundra Walk-In Climate Chamber | |
|---|---|
| Chamber Size (L x W x H) | 84-1/2″ x 130″ x 96″ |
| Door Opening (W x H) | 35-1/2″ x 77-1/2″ |
| Temperature Range C (F) | -45 to +93 (-50 to +200) |
| Humidity Range | 10% to 95 % RH |
| Data Acquisition | Configurable, Custom |
| Construction | Stainless Steel |
| Singleton SCCH Salt Fog Chamber 26SL | |
|---|---|
| Chamber Size (L x W x H) | 120″ x 48″ x 36″ |
| Temperature Range C (F) | Ambient to +50 (Ambient to +120) |
| Humidity Range | Ambient to 100% RH |
| Air Exchange Rate | 90 to 100 SCFH |
| Construction | Steel |
Showcase Industry Projects
1) Applied Thermal Sciences (ATS), Sanford, ME – Assisted ATS in the development of laser welded sandwich panels. ATS is now involved in a multi-million dollar effort to produce panels, in Sanford Maine for Bath Iron Works ships. In addition we work on the development of the advanced toriodal engine with them.
2) Ocean Farms Technology, Searsport, ME – Assisted OFT in development of their award winning Aquapod offshore acquaculture system. The efforts of OFT were highly supported by MTI. The HSL performed some of the preliminary investigation into the structure for Steve Page and continue to perform material verification testing.
3) Trans Tech Inc., Brewer, ME – Assisted Trans Tech is obtaining a conformance certification to the DOT 406 regulations. Competitors were claiming that the Trans Tech design could not meet code. However, at the HSL we scientifically proved that it was code compliant and their design was subsequently certified.
4) Bath Iron Works, Bath ME – Investigated fatigue life of a novel pipe connection designed by a BIW engineer, Don Oakes. This connection allowed for looser tolerance in fitup saving installation time and cost. In another effort we worked on a multi-million dollar effort to develop a composite support structure for a novel electric drive motor.
5) Ageis Bicycles, Van Buren, ME – Performed testing and computer modeling of their carbon fiber bike frames to show that their stiffness was equivalent to traditional bikes.
6) Raven Technologies – Assisted in development of the housing for their truck mounted AC generator.
7) Forster Manufacturing, Wilton, ME. - Optimal design of plastic cutlery using finite element analysis
8) Evolution Company, - Development of a novel boat shaft design. Field tested the design on a Grand Banks Yacht.
Companies outside Maine have also employed the HSL for various efforts including 1) Navatek, 2)Avondale Shipyard, 3) Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, 4) Alaskan Pipe and Supply Co.
Back to Mechanical Engineering or
Vince
Caccese's Home Page
|
|
|
 |
© This is an official publication of the
University of Maine Send comments to grant@umeme.maine.edu |