Mark Huggins Structures Laboratory
The Mark Huggins Structures Laboratory, constructed in 1960, provided
the Department with one of the best such facilities in North
America at that time. Experiments conducted in the laboratory
have contributed significantly to the development of Canadian
structural engineering codes and practice. The Mark Huggins
Structures Laboratory was basically designed and equipped to test
individual structural elements, (primarily individual beams and
columns - i.e. bar-like specimens), under simple loading conditions.
This machine, dating from 1960/61, was upgraded with a new
control console in 1974 and underwent major repairs and
improvements as a result of an NSERC Equipment Grant in 1986.
In addition to the Baldwin Testing Machine, the Mark Huggins
Laboratory contains a strip of strong floor 21 m long by 4 m wide
which, when combined with a set of portable universal reaction
frames, enables large "beam-like" structures to be tested.
Sandford Fleming Structures Laboratory
The Sandford Fleming Structures Laboratory, which has approximately
700 m2 of floor area and an 18 m x 12 m strong floor as well
as a 5 m high by 5 m wide reaction wall, was constructed following
a fire in 1977 and was officially opened in 1982. With the aid of an
NSERC Major Installation Grant, this laboratory was then outfitted
with world-class, "state-of-the-art" testing equipment for research
on large scale structural specimens.
A major feature of this laboratory is a computer-controlled electrohydraulic,
closed-loop testing system, which includes a purposebuilt
2,700 kN capacity moveable MTS dynamic loading frame. The
main loading frame, when combined with four 350 kN capacity
portable MTS actuators, the strong floor, the reaction wall and a
number of portable universal steel reaction frames, provide a system
capable of loading large, "three-dimensional", structural subassemblies
in an infinitely variable format.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.civil.engineering.utoronto.ca/infoabout/research
/structural/Structural_Testing_Laboratories.htm
(PDF 809kb)
Structural Testing Laboratories
