China launches core equipment for world's largest supergravity facility

(ECNS) -- China has launched the core equipment of its supergravity centrifuge simulation and experimental facility, the world's largest of its kind, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

The facility began operating its first centrifuge, which can generate supergravity fields thousands of times stronger than Earth's. The first centrifuge has a capacity of 1,300 g·t (gravity acceleration × tons), making it the largest of its kind in the world. Two additional centrifuges, with capacities of 1,500 g·t and 1,900 g·t, respectively, are under construction.

In these extreme conditions, researchers can simulate natural disasters, geological changes, and other extreme environments on a smaller scale and in much shorter timeframes, said Chen Yunmin, chief project scientist and academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Led by Zhejiang University, the facility comprises three main centrifuge units and 18 onboard systems housed in six specialized laboratories focused on areas including slopes and high dams, geotechnical earthquake engineering, and deep-sea engineering.

(By Gong Weiwei)