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Materials & Structures Laboratory

CE
CE
CE
CE

This facility is maintained to meet the program’s laboratory needs in solid mechanics, properties of engineering materials, structural engineering, study of dynamic response, and concrete technology. This laboratory is used in CE 321 and CE 361. The laboratory is also used in CE 369, and by master’s students for their research. The 2,400 sq. ft. facility has the following capability:

This laboratory houses the MTS 810 System that can perform a wide variety of standard materials tests. The system consists of the following major components: load frame and actuator with a maximum capacity of 100 KN or 22,000 lbs., hydraulic power supply, microconsole (command post), microprofiler (programming post), A/D Boards, computer/printer and software, oscilloscope and accessories (e.g., grips, extensometers, etc.). The MTS 793 Control software is available to perform tension tests, compression tests and low and high cycle fatigue tests. The MTS Flex Test Model 40 Controller Hardware provides real-time closed- loop control, with transducer conditioning and function generation to drive our existing servo-actuators.

Linear and rotary actuators operate in conjunction with MTS 810 system, but they provide additional flexibility in several areas. For example, the linear actuator permits a larger tes tbed for full-scale or proportional structural applications. In addition, the linear actuator has swivel capability, so that it can be positioned for horizontal, inclined or vertical load applications. The rotary actuator permits application of programmable dynamic loads to a specimen in torsion.

A Tinius Olsen universal testing machine with capacity of 120,000lb is available for a full range of tension, compression, bending, and buckling tests. It was last calibrated in the Spring of 2024.
Students can use a complete range of strain gage instrumentation for the measurement and analysis of strain and stress in scale models or full-scale structures.

A large test bed for heavy loading of structural systems and hydraulic loading frames are available for structural testing.
There is also a separate 400 sqft concrete mixing and casting room and another separate humidity and temperature-controlled curing room for concrete.

The following acquisitions were made in this laboratory in the last 2 years:

  • MTS Series 793 Control Software Upgrade. A test design application that allows to create monotonic and cyclic tests and to acquire data.
  • The old computer was replaced with a new one and the new version of the 793 Control software was installed in the Spring of 2023.
  • The MTS machine was last serviced in the Spring of 2023.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.