The X-STRM lab is located in W305 Brown Hall at the Colorado School of Mines and encompasses 1800 sq ft.

The laboratory space houses unique experimental apparatus designed in-house, and used to investigate material and/or structural behavior across 10 orders of magnitude in strain rate, with temperature and electrical coupling capabilities, a wide range of full-field optical diagnostics, 2W Coherent laser and white light illumination, and ultra high-speed imaging (10 Mfps), and high-speed thermal imaging, with flash X-ray and PDV (coming in early 2024!).

Some of the major equipment includes: a two-stage light gas accelerator, a single-stage gas gun for inertial impact testing and plate impact and/or Taylor impact testing, a unique impact fatigue device, two compression Kolsky (split-Hopkinson) bar systems for both soft and hard material investigations with thermal loading, a tension Kolsky bar system with thermal capabilities, a standard material load frame with thermal chamber, optical microscopes and a wide range of optomechanics and lens systems. X-STRM also has a complete material preparation setup including a VARTM (vacuum assisted resin transfer molding process), low and high speed diamond saws, an Allied High Tech Multiprep material polishing system, a precision micro-balance, charge amplifiers, oscilloscopes, hot plates, and high performance computer workstations with Abaqus, MatchID DIC software,  AutoCAD/Creo, and MATLAB.  We use a cloud-based platform for our work management software to create an agile workflow environment.