Equipment and Facilities
The Wood Materials and Engineering Laboratory is equipped to conduct research ranging from composite materials development through structural testing. The 28,000 ft2 facility houses equipment for furnish generation; sorting, drying, blending and forming; consolidation; physical and chemical property analyses; materials and structural testing; nondestructive evaluation; and computer-based modeling and analysis. A partial list of equipment and capabilities follows:
Composite Manufacturing
- computer-controlled hydraulic presses with oil heated platens (4x8 ft and 3x3 ft)
- 35mm and 55mm conical twin screw extruders (Cincinnati Milacron)
- 86mm conical twin screw extruder with crammer feed (Cincinnati Milacron) with flying cut-off saw, dump table, and puller
- 25mm single screw extruder
- 18mm twin screw extruder with pelletizer (Leistritz)
- 50-ton injection molder (Sumitomo)
- 3 water spray chambers for extrusion cooling (ConAir and Rollepaal-USA)
- 3016 pellet mill (CPM)
- HPL/LPL resin impregnator and development system
Sorting, Drying, Blending, and Forming
- strand, particle and fiber dryers
- mechanical and aerodynamic particle sorters
- air atomized blender; adhesive roll coater
- electrostatic and mechanical formers
Furnish Generation
- chipper; hammermill
- ring, drum and disc flakers
- dual disc refiner (with steam conditioner)
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- dynamic mechanical analyzer (Rheometrics RSA II)
- environmental dynamic mechanical analyzer (Tritec 2000)
- parallel plate rheometer (Rheometrics RDA III)
- capillary rheometer (Rheometrics ACER 2000)
- 2 modulated differential scanning calorimeters (TA 2920; Mettler Toledo DSC822e)
- simultaneous differential scanning calorimeter and thermal gravimetric analyzer (Rheometrics STA 650) with attached FTIR gas stream analysis
- dynamic contact angle analyzer (Cahn DCA-322)
- X-ray verticle density profiler (Quintec QDP01X)
- torque rheometer (Thermo Haake, pictured here)
Spectroscopic and Microscopic Analysis
- FTIR spectroscopy with mid- and near-IR capability (Nicolet Nexus 670)
- FTIR microscope and ATR (Nicolet Continuum)
- atomic force microscope (Veeco Multimode Picoforce) with high temperature and solution imaging kits
- transmission light microscopes with cross polarizers and hot stage (Zeiss Universal and Olympus BX51-TRF)
- reflectance light microscope with ccd camera and image analysis
- high resolution monochrome digital camera (Diagnostic Instruments Insight)
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Materials and Structural Testing
- servo-hydraulic actuators with 6, 11, 22, 56, 100, and 220 kip capacities (MTS)
- servo-hydraulic axil test frames with 22 and 56 kip capacities with computer control and data acquisition (MTS)
- 200 kip tension-testing machine
- 500 kip reaction floor with two 7.5-ton overhead cranes
- 120 constant-load test frames (for time dependent behavior)
- six independently controlled temperature and humidity rooms
- environmental test chamber (Espec)
- 2, 20, and 30 kip electromechanical universal test machines with computer control and data acquisition (Shimadzu and Instron, pictured here)
Nondestructive Evaluation
- ultrasonic pulser-receivers and piezoelectric transducers (Panametrics)
- transverse vibration E-computer (Metriguard)
- stress wave timers (Metriguard Model 239A; James V-Meter)
- FLIR P60 infrared camera with imaging/analysis software
- 1.5 GHz ground penetrating radar with RADAN software (GSSI)
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- networked computer workstations
- software for computer-aided design; three-dimensional nonlinear, static and dynamic finite element modeling; image processing; statistics; graphics; artificial neural networks; dynamic simulation; and advanced signal processing
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