The educational, research, industry, construction, and testing laboratory of the Department of Building Structures of Sumy National Agrarian University began its history in 1997, when a modern educational unit was built to accommodate the Faculty of Civil Engineering.
The laboratory was founded by Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Leonid Fomitsa. Later, the laboratory was headed by Volodymyr Stepanovych Garkavyi, a specialist at Sumy Concrete Products Plant.
The laboratory area is almost 388 m2 and its height is about 7 m. The laboratory is equipped with 24 seats.
This allows it to be used both for model tests of building structures and for full-scale tests. The capabilities of the laboratory can be widely used in the performance of scientific master’s and doctoral theses. In particular, it is possible to test elements working in bending with torsion (reinforced concrete beams, slabs). The laboratory is used for laboratory and practical work in 10 disciplines. Among them – 7 disciplines are taught for students of the Bachelor’s degree, 3 – for the Master’s degree. The total amount of laboratory and practical work is 600 hours. Laboratory and practical work is performed on 12 workstations equipped with power equipment from 10 to 200 tons.
By its architectural and constructive solution, it is unique among other laboratories that provide practical training in construction specialties in other universities.
From the very beginning of its functioning, the laboratory has been testing models of building structures as a part of dissertation experimental research – a model of a thin-walled shell with a surface outlined in the shape of the elastic beam line, testing models of reinforced concrete beams with artificial normal cracks working in bending and torsion.
Throughout the entire period of the laboratory’s existence, scientific research within the framework of PhD theses was carried out at different times. In particular:
– PhD thesis by Lyudmila Tsyganenko on “Reinforced concrete shells of coatings with a newly shaped surface”;
– Valerii Lutskovskyi’s PhD thesis on “Assessment of the stress state of centrally compressed wooden elements by their deformation parameters”;
– PhD thesis of Shaban Khalid “Spatial coverings of buildings for the Middle East”
– thesis by Andrukh Serhii “Assessment of the performance and strengthening of elements of old brickwork”
– PhD thesis of Yurii Semirnenko on “Stress regulation in reinforced concrete beams”;
– PhD thesis of Tetiana Bratuschak on “Optimization of coatings in the form of a shell of the ‘hypar’ type”
– PhD thesis of Natalia Sribniak on “Torsional stiffness of reinforced concrete beams of rectangular cross-section with normal cracks”;
– PhD thesis by Denys Paramonov on “Torsional and bending stiffness of reinforced concrete beams of rectangular cross-section with normal cracks”
– Doctoral dissertation by Vladyslav Viktorovych Dushyn on “Effective structural systems of buildings and structures”.
Currently, the laboratory is conducting research on the operation of soil-cement piles as part of the doctoral dissertation of Oleksandr Novytskyi. The laboratory recreates the soil massif, in which laboratory simulations of tests of soil-cement bases and foundations are carried out. The results are used to design reinforced foundations during construction. A hydraulic machine is used to test the contact force between reinforcement and various materials. Samples are made on site.
The laboratory is equipped with equipment that models various types of force effects on load-bearing reinforced concrete structures.
The laboratory is equipped with a stand for determining the bearing capacity of reinforced concrete beams and a stand for testing reinforced concrete beams for bending, a stand for testing reinforced concrete columns for non-central compression, a stand for testing a 3.5×3.2 m vaulted floor panel. The bearing capacity of a metal truss is determined on a stand that simulates the loading of the structure at the nodes of the upper belt. The laboratory has a stand for testing reinforcement for tearing and a stand for testing prestressed reinforced concrete beams. The tensile characteristics of reinforcement are determined by testing the reinforcement on a tensile machine. The laboratory is equipped with presses for 2000 kN and 1000 kN.
The laboratory is equipped with instruments and devices: clock-type indicators for measuring the deformation values of structures under various types of force impacts, with a modern laser rangefinder, laser level, and electronic caliper. The Schmidt hammer allows us to determine the strength of concrete and brick using the elastic rebound method. It is possible to perform a thermal audit of the premises with a BOSCH thermal detector.
Concrete mixers and concrete vibrators are used to make concrete models of the structures under test.
At one time, graduate students and teachers of the Department of Structural Engineering made models of thin-walled shells such as the shape of the beam’s elastic line, a plaster model of a dome outlined by the Agnesean verzieroid, and a model of a composite four-petal mesh hyperbolic paraboloid.
Laboratory and practical classes are held in the laboratory for both bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.
These include such disciplines as Reinforced Concrete Structures, Building Structures, Fundamentals of Geotechnics, Soil Mechanics, Foundations and Foundations, Testing of Structures of Buildings and Structures.
When studying the disciplines Fundamentals of Geotechnics, Soil Mechanics of Foundations and Foundations, the following types of laboratory work are performed:
-Determination of the particle size distribution of soil by the sieve method.
-Determination of the density of soils of natural state by the method of cutting ring.
-Determination of the density of soil particles.
-Determination of soil moisture.
-Determination of soil moisture at the plasticity limit.
-Determination of soil moisture at the yield strength.
-Determination of the optimum moisture content at the maximum density of dry soil.
-Compression testing of soils. Determination of deformation characteristics.
-Shear testing of soils. Determination of strength characteristics.
-Determination of the angle of natural slope of sandy soil.
In carrying out laboratory work in the discipline “Testing of structures of buildings and structures” the following studies are performed: determination of the strength of a concrete cube by the method of plastic deformation using a Kashkarov hammer, determination of the strength of a concrete cube by the destructive method by destroying the cube on a press, determination of the strength of a concrete cube using the ultrasonic pulse method. The thickness of the protective layer of concrete and the diameter of reinforcement are determined using the magnetic thickness measurement method on the training bench.
The laboratory is equipped with a classroom for practical training on “Metals and Welding in Construction”. The study of metal stiffness using various methods is carried out, the principles of resistance welding, gas and thermal cutting of metals are studied. Laboratory classes are provided with all the necessary equipment.
