Zhejiang University Completes Installation of World's Strongest Gravity Centrifuge
Construction at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou has reached a critical milestone with the installation of the CHIEF1900, the world's most powerful gravity centrifuge ever built.
The machine, with a capacity of 1,900 g-tonnes (gravitational acceleration multiplied by mass in tonnes), represents a dramatic leap forward in experimental research capabilities and underscores China's commitment to establishing cutting-edge scientific infrastructure.youtube
The CHIEF1900 centrifuge forms the centerpiece of the Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility (CHIEF), a national laboratory submerged 15 meters beneath the university campus to minimize vibration and ensure operational stability.
This placement reflects the precision required to maintain consistent hypergravity environments during experiments. The broader CHIEF complex, approved in 2021 with a budget of 2 billion yuan (approximately $285 million), houses three main centrifuge units alongside 18 onboard experimental devices distributed across six specialized laboratories.youtube
The distinction between CHIEF1900 and its predecessor CHIEF1300 illustrates rapid technological progression. CHIEF1300, launched in September 2025, achieved a capacity of 1,300 g-tonnes and temporarily held the title of world's most powerful centrifuge.
Within months, CHIEF1900 surpassed this benchmark, exceeding the previous record-holder—a facility operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, Mississippi, which managed 1,200 g-tonnes—by approximately 40 percent. The CHIEF1300 remains operational as the facility's second-tier centrifuge, while two additional centrifuges with even greater capacity remain under construction.
The technical specifications of CHIEF1900 illustrate the engineering complexity involved. A giant rotating arm extending 6.4 meters in radius spins within a 230-square-meter circular underground chamber, generating hypergravity forces through centrifugal acceleration as rotational speed increases.
The centrifuge accommodates loads of up to 20 metric tonnes and can sustain gravitational forces reaching 300 times Earth's normal gravity for extended periods. Context proves illuminating: a household washing machine generates approximately 2 g-tonnes during its spin cycle, while astronauts experience roughly 5 g during rocket launch.
The engineering team, led by Zhejiang University with support from Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Group, confronted unprecedented challenges in designing a machine without conventional blueprints or existing models to reference. Heat dissipation emerged as a critical problem.
The rapid rotation generates substantial thermal energy that would compromise operational stability and equipment longevity. The solution involved implementing a vacuum-based temperature regulation system combining coolant circulation with precision ventilation, effectively managing excess heat while maintaining the hypergravity environment.
The scientific principle underlying CHIEF's function rests on a fundamental concept: by generating gravitational forces hundreds to thousands of times stronger than Earth's gravity, researchers compress time and distance, transforming studies normally requiring decades into laboratory experiments completed in days or hours.
This "space-time compression" capability creates new possibilities across multiple disciplines.
For infrastructure testing, the applications prove immediately practical. A three-meter scale model of a dam subjected to 100 g centrifugal force experiences identical stress patterns that a 300-meter full-scale dam would encounter under natural conditions.
This compression permits engineers to evaluate structural integrity without risk to actual installations. Similarly, engineers can assess railroad track behavior under high-speed rail conditions or evaluate the stability of slopes and dams prone to failure.
Environmental and geological research gains equivalent advantages. A pollutant dispersion process that would naturally require a century to complete condenses to approximately 3.65 days in the laboratory at 100 g acceleration.
This enables scientists to study contaminant plumes, groundwater movement, and soil behavior under various stress conditions across timescales and spatial scales previously impossible to examine empirically.
Professor Chen Yunmin, chief scientist of the CHIEF facility and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, articulated the ambitious scope of the research program.
The facility aims to establish experimental environments covering temporal scales from brief moments to 10,000 years, spatial scales from atomic dimensions to kilometers, and environmental conditions ranging from normal to extreme temperature and pressure regimes. This breadth of capability positions CHIEF as a multipurpose research platform rather than a narrow-application instrument.
The approved research domains encompass deep-ocean and deep-Earth resource extraction, disaster mitigation and prevention, underground waste disposal, and the synthesis of novel materials.
Each field stands to benefit from the ability to simulate extreme conditions or accelerate processes normally constrained by temporal or spatial limitations.
The facility operates under an open-access model designed to foster international collaboration. Universities, research institutes, and industries—both domestic and international—can access the centrifuges and experimental apparatus for frontier research.
This approach mirrors contemporary trends in major scientific infrastructure, where emphasis on shared resources rather than proprietary advantage accelerates scientific progress.
Construction of the broader CHIEF facility began in November 2019. The initial centrifuge, CHIEF1300, completed its acceptance testing in October 2025, achieving successful operation across the full range from 10 to 300 times Earth's gravity.
The facility is expected to reach full operational status by the end of 2026, with all planned centrifuges functional and all 18 onboard experimental devices integrated and calibrated.
The advancement reflects China's broader strategy to expand scientific and technological capabilities through investment in world-class research infrastructure. CHIEF represents a substantial commitment to fundamental and applied research that addresses challenges ranging from infrastructure resilience to materials innovation.
The facility's completion positions Hangzhou as a center of gravitational research and establishes new standards for what hypergravity experimentation can achieve at the global scientific frontier.
