The Tun Adbul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) has opened a new Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) Rubber Engineering Laboratory in Hertford, that will provide the global earthquake community with a research and testing resource that will enhance and promote the use of Malaysian technology for seismic protection.
Within the new laboratory TARRC engineers have designed and built a large rubber component test machine that can test full-scale bearings under full-scale earthquake conditions, as well as having the capability to test other large structural rubber-based bearings.
Over the last four decades, TARRC and the MRB has played a pioneering role in developing natural rubber based products for protecting structures and their contents from earthquake damage.
The new machine is a large-scale unique and versatile machine capable of testing large engineering components such as laminated metal-rubber seismic and structural bearings with dimensions up to 1000mm diameter.
For these kinds of safety critical components, stringent testing is required that subjects the bearings to a range of demanding and complex conditions similar to those experienced in service.
No other machine of its kind in the world has the capability of complex combined testing of components in axial, shear and tilting modes of deformation.
The purpose built MRB Rubber Engineering Laboratory, an area of around 216 square metres, is also home to a range of other state-of-the-art test equipment for dynamic and multiaxial testing of smaller components including tyres and test pieces for material properties characterisation and behaviour modelling.
Dr Fauzi Mohammed Som, CEO of TARRC, said: “Engineers and support staff have worked tirelessly to design, build and install this machine and I am pleased that their efforts have resulted in an operational facility that will soon start reaping dividends for the Malaysian industry and provide a unique commercial service through TARRC’s consultancy, Rubber Consultants.”