Science

China unveils world's most powerful hypergravity centrifuge

Thursday 01 - 12:50

China has surged ahead in hypergravity research with the delivery of CHIEF1900, a groundbreaking centrifuge that generates forces 1,900 times Earth's gravity. Built by Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Group, the machine arrived at Zhejiang University on December 22 and is now being installed in the institution's underground research facilities. Once fully operational, it will eclipse all existing hypergravity centrifuges globally, including its predecessor CHIEF1300, which began operations in September at 1,300 times gravity.

This new record-breaker surpasses the previous benchmark set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' facility in Vicksburg, Mississippi, which topped out at around 1,200 times gravity. By spinning at extreme speeds, CHIEF1900 enables scientists to compress decades of geological processes or massive disasters into mere minutes. Researchers can, for instance, subject a three-meter dam model to 100 times Earth's gravity to mimic stresses on a full-scale 300-meter structure.

Hangzhou's municipal government highlights how CHIEF1900 fills a critical gap in China's super-large hypergravity testing capabilities. The facility supports vital applications, from extracting resources in deep ocean floors and terrestrial depths to mitigating disasters, managing underground waste, and developing novel materials. Early tests with CHIEF1300 have already simulated powerful earthquakes to assess hydroelectric dam foundations' seismic resilience and modeled tsunami impacts on seabeds to inform offshore wind farm placements.

Both CHIEF1900 and CHIEF1300 reside 15 meters underground on Zhejiang University's campus to dampen vibrations, equipped with vacuum temperature-control systems to handle the intense heat from high-speed rotation. The sprawling CHIEF complex, approved in 2021 at a cost of $285 million, serves as an international research platform open to global universities, institutes, and industries. Led by chief scientist Chen Yunmin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it features three centrifuges, 18 onboard devices, and six experimental cabins.