Research facilities

Engineers, designers and behavioural scientists work together in the Design Lab on innovative solutions for perceived problems. They are able to test their concept or prototype immediately, making use of, for example, a 3-D printer or a pair of virtual reality glasses. Research topics are not only provided by the research groups of the university, but also by companies, governments and social organizations.

For more information, see the website of the Design Lab or contact Miriam Iliohan (project leader) via m.iliohan@utwente.nl / 06 5330 3761.

The Mechanical Testing Laboratory focuses on the mechanical behavior of constructions and the associated material behavior. Also involved is research on material structure, the basis of mechanical behavior, looking from nanometers up to meters. Equipment for material characterization (e.g. balances, indenters, tribo meters, tensile testers, DIC, rheometers), thermal characterization (TMA, calorimeter, infrared camera), optical and scanning electron microscopes, x-ray diffractometer and spectrometers. The participating research groups are working with divers materials, like rubber, plastics, metal, composite and biological materials. The experiments and equipment used for measurements for this research are joined in the Mechanical Testing Laboratory.

The department of Engineering Fluid Dynamics has access to various wind tunnels for aerodynamic and aeroacoustic research.

The ‘silent wind tunnel’ has an open test section measuring 0.9m x 0.7m in an anechoic chamber measuring 6m x6m x4m. With a maximum speed of 250 km/h, this tunnel is highly suited to measuring the aerodynamics and sound effects of wind turbine blades and applications relating to automotive technology (streamlining, sound effects of mirrors and spoilers, open roofs, etc.). Air flow can be visualized with smoke and videotechnology.

In the supersonic wind tunnel, speeds of up to 1.7 times the speed of sound can be achieved (circa 2,000 km/h). This wind tunnel is used for research on airflow instabilities caused by grooves in walls, the behaviour of a jet in a supersonic airflow and for validating theoretic models and calculation methods.

For more information: Prof. Kees Venner, tel 053 489 2488.

The Virtual Reality Lab is equipped with the latest technology for visualization and interaction. This is used to support decision-making in multidisciplinary design phases. The VR Lab is where you experience and assess future situations and products. The emphasis here is on visualizing the consequences of decisions. The facilities in the VR Lab will help to give an insight in mutual relationships and dependencies between various disciplines.

The VR Lab is put to intensive use in T-Xchange, the knowledge centre of the University of Twente and Thales. They use the lab for research into gaming systems and serious gaming and its use in solving social problems.

For more information, see the website of the VR-Lab. Contacts are Roy Damgrave and Eric Lutters.