Centrifuge Equipment and Experimental Tank
At GSSIL, we are transforming the way subsoil behaviour is studied with cutting-edge technology that allows structures to be assessed accurately, efficiently and cost-effectively, offering the industry reliable solutions without the high costs of field testing.
Geotechnical Centrifuge Equipment
The centrifuge equipment uses rotation to artificially reproduce gravitational fields greater than Earth's gravitational acceleration (1g) and in the GSSIL can reach up to 130 times g. The equipment is a beam type with a 3 m arm, weighing 17 tonnes and with a load capacity in the basket of 1.5 tonnes at an acceleration level of 100 times g. Full-scale infrastructure testing in a centrifuge represents a scaling up of the physical and geometric parameters, making it possible to reproduce the level of stress existing at the site and in the prototype, as well as to rapidly consolidate the soils.
Centrifuge testing addresses the oil industry's need to measure the behaviour of subsea infrastructure interacting with the seabed on a large scale. If these measurements were to be carried out on a real scale or in the field, they would be very costly and difficult to repeat.
Experimental Tank
On the other hand, the experimental tank for testing physical models under 1-g conditions is 3 m long, 1 m wide and 1.5 m high. It was manufactured from structural steel and has three windows on one side for viewing experiments. A structural bridge beam is placed on top of the container, to which the base of a vertical actuator is attached.
Centrifuge testing addresses the oil industry's need to measure the behaviour of subsea infrastructure interacting with the seabed on a large scale. If these measurements were to be carried out on a real scale or in the field, they would be very costly and difficult to repeat.
