CPRI gets hitech seismic testing centre

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, FEB. 25. An Earthquake Engineering Laboratory of the Equipment Vibration Testing Centre at the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) was inaugurated by the Union Minister for Power, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, here today. He also unveiled a millennium charter for the CPRI.

The Equipment Vibration Testing Centre is a state-of-the-art facility for seismic qualification/performance evaluation of test specimens up to a weight of 10 tonnes. The cost of the laboratory, including that of the equipment is said to be Rs. 28 crore.

A unique feature of the laboratory is that it will have the ability to control the motion of shaking table in six degrees of freedom and is capable of simulating both historical and hypothetical seismic motions.

It will be a premier seismic shaker table facility in the country and will act as a national centre for research, testing and certification in the field of seismic engineering.

According to Mr. K.P.Manjunath, Joint Director, the facility will start functioning in July this year. It will simulate high intensity earthquakes and test its effect on the specimens. ``All electrical equipment will be tested here,'' he said.

It will take up testing on a commercial basis. The facility has been so built to ensure that when the tests are done the shocks are not felt in the surrounding areas. Almost 2,750 tonnes of concrete has been used for the facility.

The Centre has a state-of-art digital controller and 128 channel data acquisition system to meet the most demanding engineering test requirement. The proposed triaxial shaker system is suitable for testing equipment and hydroelectric projects, apart from equipment for thermal and nuclear power plant projects and for conducting seismic qualification tests on models of bridges, dams, structures and so on.

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