CEEM Department to Install Centrifuge

-- Hector Chavez

A powerful centrifuge will soon be an exciting addition to the Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics equipment in Carleton Laboratory. With an eighteen foot rotating arm and the ability to create 200 g's of force, it will be number one in size on the east coast and fourth in the United States.
Valued at around $1,000,000 at the time of donation, the centrifuge comes as a generous gift from the Kajima Corporation of Japan, a notable engineering and contracting firm. Because of its large size and massive weight approaching 50,000 lbs., the centrifuge will be installed on the solid rock foundation in the basement of Carleton Lab.

This equipment's formidable capacity and power will greatly increase the Department's capabilities in geotechnical research. Associate Professor Hoe I. Ling anticipates the simulation of forces on full-scale structures, bringing new insight for the new Columbia Center for Hazards and Risk Research.
The CEEM Department awaits new possibilities in the study of landslides and debris flow, liquefaction and geotechnical earthquake hazards. In addition, contributions are expected in the areas of groundwater and contaminant transport, soil-structure interactions, ground subsidence hazards, and varying foundation depth.

The transport and installation of the centrifuge has been a long and costly affair; completion has already been pushed back at least two quarters from the originally anticipated date. The centrifuge was dissembled at the Kajima facilities in February of this year, and transported to the United States afterwards. The delivery arrived at Columbia on May 2, and the Department has since been awaiting the final installation. Currently, completion of the installation is planned for the spring of 2003.

About $200,000 is needed for completion of the project, and the Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department have been working to raise the necessary funds. Already, the Mindlin Foundation and the Carleton Fund have provided for the first phase of the installation. Thanks to generous contributors to the project, particularly the noteworthy centrifuge donation from the Kajima Corporation, the School has much to look forward to for future geotechnical research at Columbia.