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Component Manufacturing dverti$ dverti $ er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
December 2023 #15293 Page #102
Adverti$$er
Innovation Redefined: The Future of Structural Testing with Our Million Pound Rig
By Mike Wesson
T
he future of full-scale structures testing and product development is here – and it is BIG. Our Tyrell Gilb Research Laboratory built a brand-new Million Pound Rig to help in the testing of our new Yield-Link® brace connection (YLBC), along with our many other products. Hear from Mike Wesson, Engineering Manager, Tyrell Gilb Research Laboratory, about this latest addition to the research lab. The need for larger force capacity became apparent as Simpson Strong-Tie began entering the structural steel market. We had stretched the limits of the existing equipment when we had to figure out how to use two of the 55 kip (55,000 lb) actuators together to push and pull on a Yield-Link® Moment Frame with a 36”deep beam. To go even bigger for subsequent test programs with larger capacities, we needed to contract with university labs. Now, with the added capabilities of our Million Pound Rig, we’ll be able to support our growing market areas in structural steel, mass timber, and concrete strengthening. The new rig has already been put to use to test full-scale steel-braced frames for the Yield-Link® brace connection (YLBC), product development testing for mass timber, and concrete shearwall strengthening with FRP (fiber reinforced polymers). Future testing plans include additional rounds of concrete shearwall strengthening, more mass timber product development, and additional structural steel product development.
YLBC Testing Continued next page
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