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Mason scientists conducting experimental impact testing of utility poles

Elizabeth Grisham

Cing-Dao Kan, professor and director of the Center for Collision Safety and Analysis (CCSA), and Dhafer Marzougui, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, received funding to conduct four component crash tests of utility poles.  

The researchers will install four 45-foot utility poles made up of four different materials. The poles will be compacted with a 21a soil eight feet into the ground. 

They will conduct the tests at a minimum impact speed of 19 mph. They will strike the poles with a 5,000-pound pendulum. The researchers will conduct all four tests using two Endevco accelerometers in the X-direction and one accelerometer in the Y-direction. 

At the conclusion of the tests, the researchers will provide a report detailing their results. Kan and Marzougui received $26,485 from the Electric Power Research Institute for this project. Funding began in Sept. 2023 and will end in late March 2024. 

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