Drop tower facility

The combined drop tower unit with a maximum height of 11 m offers a wide range of possibilities to examine components under dynamic load. Two test configurations are available:

• In the free-fall configuration, a maximum free fall height of 11 m is available to accelerate a fall sled, loaded with weights, by gravity. Drop masses of up to 2.5 t (payload in steps of 75 kg) are possible.
• In the accelerated configuration, an impactor weighing up to 100 kg can be accelerated up to 160 m/s with the help of compressed air. Two compressed air tanks with a nominal volume of 500 litres each are available for this purpose, which are designed for a charging pressure of 16 bar. The pipe diameter of the accelerated system is limited to 100 mm.

Specimen with diemsnions up to 1.95 m × 1.95 m × 0.40 m can be tested. With the help of the 30 t foundation, which is decoupled by pneumatic springs, the experiments can be carried out without affecting the environment. The pneumatic springs have a spring travel of up to 500 mm.

A wide range of impactor tips (sharp, flat, round) is available for both configurations of the drop tower system. In the accelerated configuration, the impactor diameter is limited to 100 mm. In the free-fall configuration, different impactor diameters can be used by using transition pieces.