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- Roofing Wind Tunnel: the only one of its kind at a university, public or private, in Florida this apparatus includes: (a) a wind generator capable of producing hurricane strength winds, (b) a rain generator used for water penetration tests, and (c) a test frame to hold full-scale roof test specimens.
- Dual Load Reaction Frame: this testing rig applies simulated hurricane loads along two axes to full-scale roof structure and wall assemblies. The apparatus has been modified for outdoor testing of masonry wall specimens.
- Vacuum Chamber: this equipment is used to simulate wind pressures from hurricane winds acting on full-scale roof panels. The apparatus is mounted on a trailer and includes its own portable power generator allowing for field deployment.
- Compressed Air Cannons: these are designed for research involving the impact of wind-propelled debris on the building envelope or various types of building materials or components. The LWE will use three different cannons to fire: (a) large debris, typically a 7 to 9 ft long piece of 2”x4” wood, (b) small debris simulating roof gravel or similar material, and (c) roofing tiles.
- Flat Roof Instrumentation: specially designed instruments contain sensors that convert wind pressure to electrical signals read and analyzed by computers.
- Test-Specimen Conditioning: this involves equipment to cure specimens, such as roof samples, to accelerated conditioning cycles of heating and cooling that are often required by test protocols.
- Data Acquisition and Control: the LWE owns two specialized computers using PXI technology and an array of associated data acquisition equipment to control testing equipment and to acquire and analyze data from various sensors.
- Shop Support: the LWE includes a shop facility with a complement of tools used to fabricate test specimens and related components.
- Software Support: the Lab already uses various software packages to conduct tests, to acquire data, to analyze data and to produce test reports. These include National Instruments Labview, Autocad, Oracle, statistical analysis software and others.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
To enhance its research and testing capabilities, the LWE is already taking steps to acquire and install additional equipment, including the following:
- Cyclic Loading Facility
- Model Testing Wind Tunnel
- Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel
- Wave and Surge Simulation Tanks
- Computer Visualization and Simulation Facility
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