Civil Infrastructure Testing and Evaluation Laboratory

CITEL is a 45,000-square-foot facility that utilizes advanced testing and computational systems to examine numerous issues related to the performance of the world's civil infrastructure.

The laboratory enables evaluation of a broad range of standard and state-of-the-art concrete materials testing; measurement and characterization of pavement surfaces; in situ instrumentation; the effects of tire types and pressure on pavement performance; testing of concrete, masonry, composite structures, and subassemblies; AASHTO and ASTM cement, grout, mortar, and concrete testing; reinforcement bars and external repair/rehabilitation materials, static/dynamic/repeated loading, environmental effects, and life-cycle costs.

Laboratory features:

• Concrete mixing and curing area
• Chemistry lab for sample preparation and testing of cements, pozzolans, and geopolymers
• Concrete mechanical and durability testing (freeze-thaw, shrinkage, corrosion, ASR)
• 9 environmental chambers, ASTM and AASHTO restrained rings
• An optical and petrographic microscopy facility
• Mechanical testing capabilities, which include a test bed with a 2,500-square-foot structural floor for large-scale steel or concrete members
  • 12-ton crane
  • 3 test frames
  • Servo-controlled hydraulic actuator with capacities ranging from 11 KIP to 210 KIP
• A broad suite of standardized concrete durability testing
• Testing capabilities for concrete, steel, soil, aggregate, and asphalt
• 3D printing capabilities
• Non-destructive evaluation and monitoring
  • Field in-situ evaluation
  • Ultrasonic testing
  • Impact resonance testing
  • Non-contact measurements
• Third-Scale Model Mobile Load Simulator (MMLS3), for accelerated traffic loading of payment surfaces
• Seismic soil testing utilizing
  • Shake table and laminar shear box
  • Large-scale direct shear evaluation

 

CITEL is directed by:

Ming Xiao, Ph.D., P.E.
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering

For more information:

Vincent Ferraro 
Engineering Support Specialist
Phone: 814-865-9678
Email: vjf102@psu.edu
3127 Research Drive, Office 107
State College, PA 16801