Materials Testing Laboratory

Located in room 127 Norris Hall, Virginia Tech,
the Materials Testing Laboratory is the basic mechanical testing facility for the
Engineering Science and Mechanics Department.

Dr. Dillard takes the Thursday afternoon class through Experiment 2

Overview:

The Lab is the home for the ESM and MSE 3064 course, Mechanical Behavior of Engineering Materials Laboratory, as well as the laboratory portion of ESM 5144, Mechanics of Deformation and Fracture. In addition, the laboratory is used by various other departments periodically during the year for demonstrations and experiments that have particular need of the equipment located here. When the laboratory is not being used for teaching purposes, the equipment is available to researchers throughout the University and to outside industry.

Equipment:

The laboratory features three tension-compression Instron testing machines --  4468 and 4204, 50 KN (10 kip) frames, and a 4206, 150 KN (30 kip). Each Instron is connected to a PC for data acquisition and control using LabView software. The lab also has a screw-driven Tinius-Olsen 120-Kip universal testing machine, a Baldwin-Satec 120-Kip universal testing machine, and a 60,000 in-lb Tinius-Olsen torsion machine. There are also Vickers, Rockwell, and Brinell hardness testers and a Charpy impact tester.

Schedule of Experiments for Spring, 2007.

Class materials, in particular the Laboratory Manual, can be found on Blackboard.

To access data files from the lab.

Some more pictures from the lab.

Additional information and comments: Bob Simonds

Updated: December 13, 2006