FPRDI lab tests pre-fab walls
February 1, 2012
In a country like the Philippines where earthquakes and typhoons are inevitable, it is crucial that housing and building structures are strong enough to withstand intense shakes and blows. Good thing though that the strength of prefabricated walls can now be examined thru the Forest Products Research and Development Institute’s (FPRDI) full-size wall testing facility.
The fully automated wall-testing facility assesses the behavioral responses of wall specimens when subjected to simulated performance tests. Results can be readily seen in a computer.
Designed especially for timber-framed walls, the facility can measure the compressive and shear strength of prefab walls. “The compression test shows how much load the wall can support even in the absence of a beam. This is important for structural walls,” said Dr. Rico J. Cabangon, Chief of the Institute’s Engineered Products Development Section.
Shear test, on the other hand, examines the strength of the wall when a load is applied from its side. “This can determine the wall specimen’s resilience to earthquakes,” Cabangon added.
The facility is the country’s first and only state-of-the-art wall testing laboratory that is government-owned. “With its establishment, local prefab wall manufacturers need not send their materials abroad for testing. This will mean lesser cost for them. The facility also aims to aid the manufacturers in further developing their products based on the information from the tests,” stressed Cabangon.
Established in 2004, the FPRDI wall testing facility was a brainchild of former FPRDI director Dr. Florence Soriano and was funded by the DOST Grants-in-Aid thru the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development. Plans are underway to upgrade it to suit the testing of concrete and steel prefab walls. ### (Apple Jean C. Martin. 18 January 2012)
