State-of-the-art facility to test the safety of infrastructure

Full article issued by Monash University.

A new ARC-funded impact testing facility designed to boost the structural safety of present and future high-risk infrastructure and save lives across Australia has been launched at Monash University.

In a move that will place Australia at the forefront of impact engineering research, the National Drop Weight Impact Testing Facility (NDWITF) will have world-leading technology that can observe the behaviour of elements under severe impact loading of up to two tonnes.

This facility has the capacity to assess the structural safety of high-risk infrastructure across Australia, including railway networks, tunnels and bridges, buildings and construction materials, as well as road safety barriers and protective equipment.

The NDWITF will also support research in the broader research community on construction, mining, geo-mechanics, energy and the environment. Fields of application and interest include construction materials under high strain loading, structural dynamics and engineering, mining excavation and rock fragmentation.

Enabled by a 2016 ARC LIEF grant, the NDWITF is a Monash University-led collaboration involving six other universities, including the University of New South Wales, Swinburne University of Technology, Queensland University of Technology, University of Wollongong, University of Technology, Sydney and The University of Melbourne.

An explanatory video can be viewed in an article published by industry partner Austeng.

 

The National Drop Weight Impact Testing Facility. Image Credit: Monash University.