The NDC houses the most powerful industrial laser of any academic institution in the UK. The IPG YLS-15000 is specifically designed for high performance in harsh cutting environments.

• IPG YLS15000 15kW continuous wave Ytterbium fibre laser (1070nm wavelength)
• 30m 300micron process fibre
• 30m 400micron process fibre
• IPG collimators

The NDC is equipped with one of the UK’s highest capacity hydrostatic pressure vessels. Commissioned for the University’s deep ocean research it is equipped with an insulated cooling jacket to simulate deep ocean temperatures if required.

The University of Aberdeen is well-practiced at pre-test assessment procedures and client specific test protocols from working with longstanding clients and addressing new.

Specifications:

• Maximum pressure 700Bar
• Internal dimensions: – 750mm diameter, 1800mm depth
• Vertically orientated working chamber serviced by a 2.5T x/y axis overhead crane.
• The vessel lid has 6 ports through which hydraulic and electrical connections can be made.
• A stock of blank portal covers is available for issue or the specifications can be made available

Run by dedicated University of Aberdeen staff with a high level of experience in hydrostatic testing and high standards of safe practice, the certificated testing service has supplied the oil and defence industry sectors for the past thirteen years.

Votsch Industrietechnik VC4100

Specifications:

• Test space volume: 900 litre (Width 1100mm, Depth 950mm, Height 950mm)
• Temperature range: -40oC to +180oC
• Humidity range: 10% to 98% (within +10oC to +95oC temperature range)
• Temperature rate of change: 2.7oC/min. (cooling), 3.0oC/min. (heating)
• Temperature fluctuation: <+/- 0.3oC (over time); <+/-1.0oC (spatial)
• Humidity fluctuation: < +/- 3.0%

Temperature changes in the ocean and on land can affect the operation of hydraulic, mechanical, laser performance, electronic equipment and materials.

The Environmental chamber enables NDC to supply towards our clients’ operational requirements and simulate temperature and humidity profiles.

The vibration table is industry standard for automotive, aerospace and electronics testing and has been used extensively at the NDC for those industries as well as subsea technologies. It allows designs to be evaluated for shocks or mechanical resonances by carrying out automatic swept-sine resonance searching with programmable trigger level and dwell time.

Accelerated-life testing of land and air and sea transportation stresses can also be performed, as well as and shock testing, to simulate stresses from rough handling of equipment during deployment at sea.

Ling Dynamics Systems
V870-640T Vibrator
SPA 40/30K-v2 Amplifier
LDS Dactron LaserUSB Controller
ICP Accelerometers

Specifications:

• Armature diameter 640mm
• Peak sine force 33.4kN
• Random force 26.7kN
• Half sine bump force 80kN
• Useful frequency range 5 to 2400Hz
• Peak sine velocity 1.5m/s
• Peak sine and random acceleration 50g
• Displacement pk-pk 50mm
• Amplifier power 40kVA
• Maximum load 600kg

The associated software allows the following types of test:-

• Sine Sweep
• Resonance Search and Dwell
• Random
• Shock

This test equipment is industry-standard for automotive, aerospace and electronics testing. It allows designs to be evaluated for mechanical resonances by carrying out automatic swept-sine resonance searching with programmable trigger level and dwell time. Accelerated-life testing of land and air and sea transportation stresses can also be performed, as well as and shock testing, to simulate stresses from rough handling of equipment during deployment at sea.

The system is capable of performing industry standard vibration tests such as:-

• BS EN ISO 13628-6:2006
• US MIL801F
• IEC 60068-2-6
• ASTM D3580

The NDC has a substantial indoor freshwater tank capable of accommodating offshore assemblies for testing. The tank has dimensions of 5 x 5 x 5 metres and is an essential proving facility for subsea inspection equipment, ROVs and other subsea test simulations.

A saltwater tank with acoustically neutral walls is also available for calibration and testing of sonar transducers and can be used to establish whether equipment is suitable for use in high corrosion environments.