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The Materials and Structures Laboratory
 The materials and structures laboratory is equipped with 10 servo-hydraulic actuators, ranging from
10 KN to 1500 KN. All of the actuators are hydrosustained, servocontrolled, equipped with
appropriate load cells and displacement transducers, and driven and monitored by PC’s. Each actuator is installed in a loading frame that allows flexibility in the test preparation, so that
specific experiment requirements or special set-up can be fulfilled. All the machines can carry out
both static and fatigue tests under constant amplitude and spectrum loading. Each machine has a
PC that can drive the test by means of programs written in the Labview environment. The programs
allow the test management and interface the measuring instruments, so that test information can be
stored appropriately at the end of the test. Experimental apparatuses allowing tests at temperatures
of up to 1000° C (furnaces, loading devices, measurement instrumentation) and in aggressive
environments, such as salt water, are also available. Equipment for testing ceramic materials in four
point bending conditions at temperatures of up to 1500° C has also been recently acquired. A
servo-controlled electrodynamic shaker is available for vibration tests under a broad range of
adjustable excitation spectra. In addition, the laboratory is equipped with a datalog for straingauges
reading (100 point, static), for dynamic strain-gauge reading and systems for inductive
transducers signal conditioning.
 Crack length can be measured in fatigue propagation tests by means of optical methods, both
manually, by means of a traveling microscope, or automatically with a photo camera or a video
camera, or by means of the d.c. potential drop technique.
The laboratory has also an ultrasonic apparatus that, by means of a biaxial movement system, can
provide C-scans of composites components.
The post-failure analysis of fracture surfaces can be carried out of a Nikon SMZ1500 microscope.
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