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Wednesday, 21 January 2015

The University of Western Australia is one step closer to establishing the National Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility, the only facility in the world operating three centrifuges on a daily basis.

A centrifuge is a large spinning machine which can be used to simulate conditions occurring underneath hundreds of metres of water.

The facility will provide important geotechnical data and will assist in developing prediction models that help the development of safe, economical and geotechnical structures for the offshore oil and gas industry.

In a very difficult and precise task, concrete was poured to create the wall lining of the new chamber, which will house a third centrifuge on the Crawley campus.

This new centrifuge will have a 10m diameter and will be capable of spinning 2400kg of soil at a G-level of 100, which is a force 10 times greater than astronauts experience when launching into space.

The centrifuge team is headed by Professor Christophe Gaudin from the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems , who said the facility will make waves in the energy industry.

"Part of our role is servicing the oil and gas industry by providing performance data and assisting in design of offshore geotechnical structure such as foundation for floating platform, offshore pipeline and subsea systems," he said.

The centrifuge spins scaled models at incredible speeds, which increase the gravitational forces acting on the models. This allows on-site conditions to be replicated in a controlled environment.

Results can then be applied in the field on full-scale pipelines, anchors, caissons and other offshore infrastructure at a fraction of the cost and hazard.

In April Professor Gaudin will head to France to do a factory inspection of the new centrifuge.

"This is a milestone where the facility assembly is completed and all technical requirements validated and checked before the machine is packed and shipped to Australia."

The National Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility will be set for full commission in July 2016.

Media references

Professor Christophe Gaudin (UWA Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems)  (+61 8) 6488 7289
David Stacey (UWA Media and Public Relations Manager)  (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716

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Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems — Oceans Institute