- Author
- Shenton, H. W., III | Anderson, E. D. | Gross, J. L. | Marshall, R. D.
- Title
- NIST Impact Test Facility.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NISTIR 4896, January 1992, 26 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- impact testing | test facilities | building technology | drop tower | dynamic response | impact | impulsive load
- Identifiers
- structural elements
- Abstract
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology has recently constructed an Impact Test Facility (ITF), which is to be used in the investigation of the behavior of structural elements and systems subject to loads of short duration and high intensity. The ITF consists of a 21.9 m vertical drop tower and free-fall impactor. A peak impact velocity of 17 m/s can be attained in the ITF with a full-height drop, delivering 8,500 N-m of kinetic energy to a specimen using a 59 kg impact sled. The components of the system include the vertical drop tower, impact sled, sled hoist assembly, sled fall arresting system, specimen support frame, instrumentation and data acquisition system. The system has been designed to be versatile and can be adapted to meet a wide variety of test requirements.