arl facilities (Click on the tabs above to review a summary
of each facility - each summary will present a link to its detailed website.)
ARL Facilities
Acoustics
Anechoic Chamber
Computing
Drafting
Environmental
Hi Pressure
Imaging
Instrumentation
Lasers
Machining
Materials
Modeling
Navigation
Nuclear
Tunnels
Vehicle Testing
ARL has many facilities that augment its
research capabilities. These facilities,
which support both ARL and sponsor-driven
programs, are equipped with the latest
in hardware and software and are
staffed by leading experts
and skilled technicians.
acoustic test tank
The Acoustic Test Facility, housed in the Applied Research Laboratory Building, has complete instrumentation for determining the acoustic characteristics of sonar devices. Operated by the Acoustic Systems Group, routinely made measurements include frequency response calibrations, radiation pattern plots, and impedance and admittance characterizations.
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pump loop facility
A pump test facility has been designed and built at the Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University (ARL/PSU). The loop, which complements the many other Hydroacoustic Division measurement facilities at ARL/PSU, can accommodate a wide range of inflow piping, operating conditions, and pump configurations and has been constructed of high quality components to ensure its longevity as a world-class test facility.
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structural acoustics lab & reverberant tank
The Structural Acoustics Laboratory has a fabrication facility for unsteady pressure and force instrumentation and an 8- by 8- by 25-foot tank for in-water testing. This facility produces the following measurements: calibration of model-installed acoustic pressure and unsteady force transducers, admittance and damping of large-scale structures, fiber-optic laser vibrometry of large structures, and structural radiation efficiency within reverberant nonsymmetric tank inserts. This laboratory is equipped with inverters to drive motors within test models.
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anechoic chamber- for Applied Communications Technology
This chamber is one of the largest of its kind and is particularly well-suited for low frequency antenna characterization (100 Mhz), customized R&D, fabrication and full-scale system testing in a fully controlled environment for its customers, sponsors, and industrial partners to analyze the entire end-to-end design of a communication system.
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high performance computing
The ARL Computing and Networks Department provides strategic planning and implementationfor Laboratory network infrastructure, administrative and file servers,information access security, desktop, workstation, and server computer support, and coordination with the University's Office of Telecommunications, Office of Administrative Systems, Center for Academic Computing, and the Computer, Network, and Information Security Office
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drafting & design
All of our work is performed using Computer Aided Design
and Drafting (CADD) software. For mechanical work we use
Unigraphics and for electronic printed circuit board design
we use Mentor Graphics - Expedition PCB. In conjunction
with ARL's machining shops,we have expanded our
Computer Aided Machining (CAM) capabilities to
ensure that each project’s work takes advantage
of the latest in machine tool technology.
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air and water quality facility
The Environmental Technology Group houses a 1,600 square foot Air and Water Quality Laboratory, designed to research air and water pollution control technologies and monitoring methodologies. The Laboratory is currently staffed to support bench-scale feasibility efforts through pilot-scale demonstrations and conceptual system design. The Air and Water Quality Laboratory contains a pilot-scale, 2,000 scfm air pollution control system (APCS), which is modeled after a commercially available "hybrid-advanced oxidation" technology.
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high pressure test facility
Located in the Applied Research Laboratory Building at Penn State, ARL´s High-Pressure Test Facility simulates deep ocean environments. Three cylindrical vessels are available for hydrostatic pressure testing and evaluation of submersible structures and components. The vessels are located in an 1,100 square foot work area and are serviced by a 20-ton crane. The facility uses hydrostatic pressure to isostatically mould industrial materials.
The SOA Division uses a number of specialized tools and facilities focused on advanced sensing and condition-based maintenance. Some of these resources were developed in-house; others represent state-of-the-art software and instrumentation tools that are commercially available.In addition, the division shares the resources of the Applied Research Laboratory, which includes 200,000 square feet of engineering and testing facilities.
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scanning laser vibrometry
The application of effective noise and vibration treatment often requires
a precise knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of the
source vibration. Researchers at ARL have developed considerable
expertise in the use of a laser technique, scanning laser vibrometry,
which is sensitive, robust, and greatly facilitates solving vibration
problems since it measures the full-field surface vibration.
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machining & specialty shops
ARL maintains an extensive set of specialty shops including
NC (Numerically Controlled) multi-axis machining,
paint and plating shops, a sheet metal shop, and a welding shop.
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materials processing facilities
Facilities Include:
Cold Spray Process
Electron BeamPhysical Vapor Deposition
Spray Metal Forming
Corrosion Testing
Hydraulic Hot Pressing
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precision model & instrumentation
The test facilities at ARL Penn State
require the fabrication of precision model
test hardware. In addition to the standard
machine shop tools, the Laboratory
operates a four-axis and two five-axis
computer numerically controlled (CNC)
milling machines, a CNC lathe,
a coordinate measuring machine (CMM),
and a large five-axis CNC
machine capable of
machining parts up to
four feet in diameter.
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navigation & research facility (warminster)
The Warminster location was selected based on an extensive survey,
which determined that this site was the most seismically and
environmentally quiet spot in the continental United States and
has the best bedrock. The test piers are bonded directly to
the bedrock and are isolated from the rest of the building.
The building was designed and constructed specifically
for this function and maintains the very quiet test
environment. There is no known comparable facility.
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advanced nuclear test facility
The Advanced Nuclear Fuel Test Facility (ANFTF) is a Westinghouse-funded facility located at ARL's Test Site, approximately eight miles from Penn State's University Park campus. It was constructed to economically test and evaluate a wide variety of fuel component designs of Westinghouse's commercial and advanced power reactors.
A small group of ARL engineers and technicians permanently stationed at Keyport maintain and operate a small fleet of ARL test vehicles. These research vehicles were designed to serve as test and demonstration platforms for a wide variety of undersea technologies. These partially include:
