Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Materials Testing Lab Dedication [PAGE 10]

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10

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

and 175 feet long. Another is 6 feet wide and has a depth of 18 feet for a distance of 24 feet, 13.5 feet for a distance of 59 feet, then changes to a weir section 10 feet deep and 37 feet long. In this channel it will be possible to make tests involving discharges^up to 45 cubic feet per second. The pumping equipment includes a 500-gal.-per~min. vertical motor-driven sump pump, a pair of lOOO-gal.-per-min. motor-driven centrifugal pumps arranged for parallel or for series operation, and a pair of 2000-gal.-per-min* pumps similarly connected. All of these pumps operate against a maximum head of 80 feet when used singly or in parallel, and against a head of 160 feet when connected in series. The pumps discharge into a piping system consisting of four lines of 12-in. pipe serving all parts of the laboratory. There is also a pump having a capacity of 30 cu. ft. per sec. (13 500 gal. per min.) against a head of 40 feet, direct connected to a 200-horse power, 2300-volt, synchronous motor. The pump discharges into a 24-in. spirallyriveted steel pipe line. The water used in the laboratory is recirculated through pits having a storage capacity of about 90 000 gallons. A standpipe 6 feet in diameter and 60 feet high is located in one corner of the hydraulics laboratory. Four overflow weirs are provided in the standpipe so that a constant head may be held at one of four levels. Since each weir is nearly 16 feet long, the head will be held within a few inches of a constant level under any condition of operation. The main upper floor of the hydraulics laboratory contains weirs, orifice tanks, meter testing equipment, venturi meters, a three-stage centrifugal pump capable of delivering 300 gal. per min. against a 460-ft. head, impulse water wheels, motor-driven centrifugal pumps, a 50-horse power motor-generator set,; a hydraulic ram, a glassencased turbine, and other apparatus for general student laboratory work. By means of openings in the floor, covered by removable steel gratings, the water used in experiments may be discharged into steel tanks of various sizes in the basement for measurement or direct weighing on platform scales. 9. Applied Mechanics Laboratory.—The Applied Mechanics Laboratory occupies the second floor of the west wing of the building, and is used for the instruction of students. It contains nine testing machines with capacities of from 50 000 to 200 000 pounds, equipped with individual motor drives. In addition there are a number of smaller hand-operated beam-testing machines, torsion machines, a