Welcome to Full Scale Dynamics Limited
Full Scale Dynamics is a high-tech spin-off company of The University of Sheffield specialising in vibration serviceability, dynamic analysis, testing and monitoring of large civil engineering structures such as bridges, footbridges, ground and suspended floors, grandstands, staircases, dams, and tall and long structures.
Our competitive advantage is to offer state-of-the-art dynamic testing and analytical facilities with knowledge and expertise from our academic-based directors with over 50 years of collective research and consultancy experience.
The theme of our underlying research and the Company’s key specialisation is in full-scale performance of objects of civil infrastructure, in particular dynamic performance.
"FSDL helped IE devise test programs, performed dynamic testing and delivered excellent support for their work in the form of documentation and thorough insight into the dynamic response. We were delighted with the outcome and have enjoyed working with the energetic people at FSDL." More»
Angelo Ferro, Senior Project & Research Engineer, Intelligent Engineering, UK
Gatwick Airport Link Bridge - Tested dynamically by FSDL directors using
electrodynamic horizontal shakers in 2004.
Millenium Bridge, London - Dynamics properties and responses were
measured using bespoke shaker, by FSDL directors in 2000.
Manchester City Football Stadium. Dynamic properties were measured using vertical
multi-shaker excitation. Responses to crowd dynamic loading were recorded over
a prolonged period using remote internet-based vibration monitoring coupled with
video recording, during 2006 and 2007.
Case Studies
| Rugeley Power Station chimney More» |  |
| Office building vibration testing More» |  |
| Modal test of a 6 lane Highway Bridge More» |  |
| Interference effects for in-line chimneys More» |  |
| Gatwick Airport Link Bridge More» |  |
The 183m tall original chimney at Rugeley power station operated without incident
since it was built in 1968 until construction, in late 2006, of a replacement chimney
in the upstream direction of the prevailing wind. An investigation of cross-wind
interference effects, on the old chimney, prior to construction and commissioning
of the new chimney led to the installation of a tuned mass damper (TMD) and of a
system for monitoring performance of both TMD and chimney during the remainder of
its operational life.
The office structure is on the 2nd floor of a purpose-built office building. It has steel
primary beams at 6m centres, secondary beams at 3m centres and steel columns
approximately on a 6x12m grid.
In April 2008 the Federal Highway Agency’s Office of Infrastructure Research and
Development launched the Long Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) Program, a 20 year
project with the objective of collecting scientific quality data from the Nation’s
bridges. The information collected will provide a detailed and timely picture of bridge
health, improve knowledge of performance and promote safety, reliability and longevity
of bridges in the USA.
Following on from the Rugeley Chimney and TMD monitoring exercise, FSDL proposed
to carry out a study on interference effect for inline slender chimneys. As a result,
CICIND commissioned FSDL to provide design guidance for such effects using
numerical techniques for fluid-structure interaction based on computational fluid
dynamics and validated using the Rugeley Chimney data.
The Gatwick Airport Pier 6 Link Bridge, completed in 2005, was constructed to connect
a new pier to an existing terminal building at the airport. The bridge traverses a major
taxiway and there is sufficient clearance for Boeing 747-400 aircraft to pass underneath.
