PVL Technologies, Inc. Company Profile                               

Profile & History • Partial List of Products and Projects • Partial List of Customers and Clients

Profile & History

PVL Technologies, Inc., located in Long Lake, New York, is a professional service and manufacturing firm that applies technology, science, and management skills to solve engineering challenges. PVL currently employs 5 professional and technical personnel.  While small in size, PVL offers a wide range of skills and experience including electro-mechanical engineering design, environmental engineering, vibrations and experimental modal analysis, control systems engineering, structural analysis, Windows programming, multi-channel computerized data acquisition design and program development, geotechnical and geo-environmental testing, and geotechnical centrifuge modeling. Our machine shop and electronics shop provide in-house manufacturing capability and are staffed by trained machinists and technicians.  A full suite of computer aided design tools are available for 3D mechanical design, electrical and electronic design, PCB layout, database programming, systems design and enterprise application development.

Founded in 1996 by company president Paul Van Laak, Ph.D., the company specializes in combining varied technologies in innovative ways to satisfy our customers’ requirements. We provide a line of standard products for use in typical applications, yet stand ready to develop customized solutions to meet unique requirements. Our highly trained, experienced staff offers practical and creative solutions for our clients by applying the latest technologies.

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Partial List of Products and Projects

Model VC-3.5 Vibracore - a lightweight (96 lb., 43 kg) submersible electric vibracore designed specifically for sediment core collection of soft marine and fresh water sediments. The compact, watertight, anodized aluminum housing permits sampling at shallow depths and in waters up to 500 feet (152.4 m) deep. The high frequency vibration unit is well suited for collection of relatively undisturbed samples for routine chemical and physical sediment characterization through depth, as well as for radionuclide dating. Our units have been used for environmental testing throughout the U.S. and the world, including the South Pacific, the Caribbean and Europe.

Model ES-2.2 Earthquake Simulator – a servo-hydraulic shaker for earthquake model testing, developed for use with medium-to-large sized geotechnical centrifuges. It is designed to provide 1-dimensional base input motions for centrifuge models of up to 90 kg, while undergoing centripetal accelerations of up to 100g.

Model ES-18 Earthquake Simulator – a servo-hydraulic shaker for earthquake model testing, developed for use with large sized geotechnical centrifuges. It is designed to provide 1-dimensional base input motions for centrifuge models of up to 400 kg, while undergoing centripetal accelerations of up to 100g.

 Model LB-1018 Laminar Box Soil Container – a flexible walled model container for geotechnical centrifuge model testing, designed to contain dry or saturated soil models and provide approximately free-field boundary conditions. It is designed for use with 1-dimensional earthquake simulation shakers and is constructed of 39 rigid low-mass rectangular aluminum rings arranged in a stack and separated by roller bearings. Inside dimensions of the container are 18 in x 10 in x 10 in  (LxWxH).

 Model LB-2814 Laminar Box Soil Container – similar to the LB-1018 container but larger in size, having inside dimensions of 28 in x 14 in x 14 in (LxWxH).

 Model CLB-24 Biaxial Laminar Soil Container – a flexible walled container developed for use with earthquake simulators capable of biaxial shaking in two prototype horizontal directions. The container is constructed from 50 12-sided low-mass aluminum alloy rings arranged in a stack. The rings are separated from each other by 24 roller bearings, specially designed to permit translation in the two horizontal directions with minimal frictional resistance. The nominal inside diameter of the container is 24 in, and the height is 18 in.

Model CP1 Cone Penetrometer System – developed for use in geotechnical centrifuge model testing.  The penetrometer accepts three different size scale replicas of the Dutch cone, having cone diameters of d_c = 12 mm, 8 mm, and 4 mm. A ball screw driven by an electric gear motor is used to push the cones into the soil models to a depth of 1 meter (up to 30 meters prototype). A miniature load cell is used for measuring penetration resistance, while an encoder is used to measure penetration depth.

Computerized Multi-channel Data Acquisition Systems – PVL has developed numerous integrated systems for computerized data acquisition, control, and data analysis. Examples include a remote structural health monitoring system, a multi-axis servohydraulic control system, and an automated transducer calibration system. A recent trend has been toward network-based client-server acquisition and control systems for laboratory and industrial environments, where data is acquired by a server in one location and transmitted via LAN or WAN to client applications for storage, analysis, and display. Other common application requirements include seamless support for database management, complex multi-channel analysis, and multi-axis control. PVL can author original software applications as well as provide integration of third-party acquisition hardware and software with widely supported DBMS and analysis packages. We also can develop customized signal conditioning, such as may be needed for severe or unusual operating environments.

CMC-SB Split-box Model Container – a model container for use in geotechnical centrifuge testing. It uses a hydraulic cylinder to produce localized shear strains along a vertical interface in a dry soil model while being spun at centrifugal accelerations of up to 50g. A load cell directly connected between the actuator and the movable half of the container measures the shearing force applied by the actuator. When operated at a supply pressure of 1200 psi (8.3 MPa) the maximum force developed by the actuator is approximately 2000 lb (8.9 kN). The displacement is adjustable using mechanical stops; the maximum achievable displacement is 3.2 inches (8 cm.)

Consulting Services in Experimental Modal Analysis and Vibrations – PVL has participated in a number of commercial and academic research projects involving the study of structural dynamics. Specific examples include estimation of principal vibration modes within a large rotating machine using analytical dynamics, dynamic characterization of medical imaging equipment using experimental modal analysis techniques, and amelioration of flow-induced vibrations in a tainter-gate dam.

SC-2000 Dual-Channel Servocontroller – a two-channel analog servo-controller designed primarily for use with servo-hydraulic systems. Switches and jumpers are provided on the SC-2000 circuit board to permit the user to configure the SC-2000 for operation in any one of a number of basic operating modes. The supported modes include single channel operation for single actuator systems, independent dual channel operation of two independent actuator systems, and Master/Slave dual channel operation of two actuator systems acting in parallel to drive a common load.

Front Panel of SC-2000 Servocontroller

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Partial List of Customers/Clients:

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