Steel Fabricators, LLC joins the FIU Construction and Structures Lab Sponsoring Team

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at FIU welcomes Steel Fabricators, LLC to join the FIU Construction and Structures Lab Sponsoring Team.

The Department has embarked on a campaign to build a State of the Art Construction and Structures Lab. The mission of the lab is to provide hands-on educational experience for students; to support research and development of innovative hurricane-resistant and durable construction materials, structural systems and components; to serve the construction industry; to contribute to the engineering community in South Florida, and to advance the safety, durability, and economy of our civil infrastructure.

The lab will be in the east half of the existing 22 ft high, 85 ft x 75 ft high-bay facility adjacent to the engineering building. It will consist of a 30 ft x 60 ft strong floor with 3 ft thickness, and 100-kip capacity tie-downs on a 3 ft x 3 ft pattern. The lab will be equipped with a large 15-ft tall structural testing frame with a capacity of 400-kips in the vertical direction and 100-kips in the lateral direction.

3D Image of the Structural Testing Frame

In its quest to build the premier lab, the Department has sought the help of the industry, and Steel Fabricators, LLC has responded by providing free design, engineering, materials and fabrication for a large-scale structural testing frame. The fabrication of the frame is complete and is being delivered to FIU later this week.

Headquartered in Ft Lauderdale and within 30 minutes from FIU, Steel Fabricators, L.L.C. has participated in the construction of hundreds of demanding and challenging projects, including many landmarks that showcase the superior capabilities of structural steel since 1962. As one of Florida's largest providers of structural steel, Steel Fabricators provides a full range of design, engineering, fabrication and erection services throughout Florida, the Southeastern U.S. and the Caribbean. Working with engineering schools in Florida is not new for Steel Fabricators, as they fabricated and donated a full-scale 13-foot teaching sculpture to the School of Engineering at the University of Florida in Gainesville. This innovative three-dimensional model enables engineering students to visualize every conceivable manner of joining structural steel elements, helping them understand the design and engineering features of each type of steel connection.   Steel Fabricators, LLC was initially contacted through Mr. John Housey, President of Southern Association of Steel Fabricators. Mr. Langsenkamp of Steel Fabricators, LLC agreed right away to help FIU with its need to build the structural frame. Mr. Tom Petrilla of Steel Fabricators, LLC has been so gracious to meet with Dr. Mirmiran and graduate students at FIU to help refine the initial design of the frame.   For more information, contact Steel Fabricators at 954-772-0440, http://www.steelfabflorida.com/ or Dr. Amir Mirmiran, tel (305) 348-2314, email: mirmiran@fiu.edu