VESPA: a servohydraulic shock testing machine

Abstract

Equipment installed in Swiss civil defense shelters and military fortifications is systematically shocktested. A set of three so-called shock parameters (test table acceleration, velocity and displacement) is defined as test criteria that are simulated on shock testing machines. Some years ago the NC Laboratory Spiez made operational a new vertical shock testing machine, called VESPA. This fully hydraulically driven machine allows to simulate in both directions (,,up and ,,down) a wide range of acceleration-time-histories with test objects weighing up to ten tons. In the tests the motion of the shock table and, if needed, the response of the test object are measured by piezoelectric acceleration transducers. The displacement-time-history of the test table is measured by a special device developed by the NC Laboratory Spiez.