Excellent research and testing facilities in Civil and Resource Engineering include fully-equipped laboratories for geomechanics, structures and hydraulics testing and research.

1. Major equipment
2. Site investigation equipment
3. Hardware

Major equipment

• Amsler, Baldwin and Instron test machines
• SonTek/YSI 16-MHz 3D Micro Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV)
• DLY-1 strain sensor filtered wave gauge
• 3D-Morphology LP Laser profiler
• Scour probes
• Pitot-static tubes
• Multi-channel hot wire anemometers and pressure transducer
• Linear variable differential transformer laser for displacement measurements
• Fixed-beam centrifuge - 40g-tonne capacity with 1.8m radius platform
• Drum centrifuge - 1.2m diameter and 500g capacity with precision-controlled turntable
• Cycylic triaxial and simple shear equipment
• There is a comprehensive range of other soil-testing equipment and purpose-built storage for soil samples.

Closed-loop boundary layer wind tunnel

The closed-loop boundary layer wind tunnel has a main test section (Section 1) of 2.86m x 2.23m x 5 m (W x H x L). The maximum wind speed in this section is about 10 m/s. Higher wind speed can be achieved in the smaller sections.

The tunnel is used for research by PhD, Master's and final-year students, and can also be used for consulting projects for business and industry.

The equipment we have allows us to measure wind velocities, wind load on structures, flow-induced structural vibrations etc.

Open-channel flume

The open-channel flume which has a size of 0.4m × 0.5m x 15m (W × H x L). Both steady currents and free-surface waves can be generated in the flume. The maximum velocity of the steady current is up to 0.5m/s. The period of the regular wave ranges from 1.0s-5.0s; the maximum wave height is 20cm. The flume can also generate the random wave by using a realistic time series

Mini O-tube

The O-shaped enclosed circulation flume (O-tube) is a pressurized flume that can generate steady current, oscillatory flow, and combined steady current and oscillatory flow to simulate the coastal environment flow. 

A miniature O-tube of scale 1:5 has been complete for the purpose of modification and development. The mini O-tube covers an area of 5m long and 3m wide. The test section is 1.8m in length, 0.3m in depth and 0.2m in width. The mini O-tube can generate high-speed steady flow and oscillatory flow, which have the maximum velocity up to 2m/s. The period of the oscillatory flow ranges from 0.5-20s. The mini O-tube can also generate the random wave flow by inputting a realistic time series. 

A few practical projects have been conducted in the mini O-tube, which including PLUTO riser platform pad stability model testing, PLUTO rock berm stability model testing, etc. and satisfying results have been achieved.  

Large O-tube

The prototype O-tube covers an area of 25m long and 15m wide. The test section is 15.4m in length, 1.0 m in width and 1.4m in depth.  The diameter of the circular pipe is 1.0m.

The prototype O-tube has a powerful pump which can generate high-speed steady current, oscillatory flow, combined steady current and oscillatory flow and random wave flow. The maximum velocity of the flow can reach up to 2m/s.

Many experiments for offshore pipelines can be conducted in the large O-tube with large scales even with full scales. It will be widely used in the research area of coastal and oceanic engineering.

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Site investigation equipment

• T-Bar and spherical penetrometers
• Seismic cone
• Surface wave (SASW) equipment
• Dynamic pile-testing instrumentation and software
• Marchetti dilatometer

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