Reaction Wall
Reaction Wall
The lab’s three reaction walls, working together with the strong floor, form a configurable three-dimensional test frame that allows us to apply very large forces and deformations to structural and geotechnical specimens in a controlled way. Each wall is a heavily reinforced concrete element anchored into the strong floor and designed to remain essentially rigid under load, so that actuators, reaction frames, and bracing systems can be attached directly to the walls without significant wall deformation. By arranging three walls around the main test area, we can create a U-shaped reaction system that resists forces in multiple directions, enabling realistic boundary conditions for tall or long specimens such as building frames, bridge piers, shear walls, and soil–structure subassemblies. Similar three-wall configurations used at major earthquake engineering centers allow high horizontal forces, multi-directional loading, and flexible test layouts to be developed around a central shake table or test zone.
These reaction walls are intended to support a wide range of quasi-static, dynamic, and hybrid simulation tests. Servo-hydraulic actuators can be anchored between the strong floor and any of the walls to impose lateral drifts on multi-story frames, apply axial and bending demands to individual components, or combine vertical and horizontal loading for complex subassemblies. In more advanced configurations, the walls can be used with real-time
hybrid simulation systems, where part of a structure is physically tested in the lab while the remainder is modelled numerically and coupled through fast actuators on the strong floor and walls. This three-wall arrangement greatly expands the range of possible test setups: for example, one wall can serve as the primary lateral reaction surface, while the others provide anchorage for additional actuators, bracing, or boundary elements, allowing researchers and industry partners to recreate realistic 3D load paths and support conditions that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with a single reaction wall.
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