The centrifuge developed as part of the CHIEF project (Centrifuge for Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiments) located at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, reports 24 Channels with reference SCMP.

Designed to produce an acceleration of approximately 500 g, the machine surpasses the current record holder at the US Army Corps of Engineers Research Center, which produces an acceleration of up to 350 g.

Its construction started in 2020 and the first phase of the project has been completed. Ultimately, the facility will host three centrifuges comprising 18 units, offering unprecedented opportunities for applied and basic science research.

Applied application in engineering and physics

The CHIEF centrifuge will play an important role in studying the effects of extreme gravitational forces on engineering models and materials. By simulating hypergravity conditions, researchers will be able to test the durability and reliability of structures such as dams, tunnels and heavy machinery, minimizing risks and preventing accidents in real-world applications.

These effects, including increasing the distortion of space and slowing the flow of time, could provide revolutionary insights. Detecting such events will require the use of extremely sensitive instruments such as atomic clocks.

A leap beyond current technologies

Although exact details of the centrifuge capacity have not been disclosed. With a wide range of applications from geology and materials science to fundamental physics, the CHIEF centrifuge is a major milestone in hypergravity research.