Large Sample Rig 1

Triaxial (conventional)

Texas A&M, Handin lab B31A

LSR 1

Gear-driven triaxial apparatus employs a double-yoke press designed by Handin and Logan in the 1960s so that loads due to confining pressure and differential stress are decoupled and pressure remains constant while advancing the load piston. This apparatus is uniquely suited for testing weaker rocks in triaxial compression and extension (with a stress resolution of 1 MPa) at constant strain rate or constant stress. Its capabilities include: 980-kN loading capacity, specimens up to 50 mm in diameter and 200 mm in length, strain rates from 10-3 to 10-9 s-1, and confining and pore-fluid pressures up to 250 MPa at room temperature, measurement of acoustic emissions, permeability using the transient-pulse technique, fracture under mixed tensile and compressive stress states, rock and simulated gouge friction testing, failure in thick-walled hollow cylinders, and fracture and folding in rock models.

Loading; Unloading; High Pressure; Hydrostatic Tests; HIP; Elasticity; Elastic Moduli; Yield Strength; Failure Strength; Strength; Extension; Creep; Friction; Frictional Sliding; Stepping; Pore Fluid Control; Pore Volume Compaction; Storage Capacity; Permeability; Steady-State Permeability; Drained/Undrained Pore Fluid; Triaxial Stress/Strain; Differential Stress; Acoustic Events; P-Wave Velocity; S-Wave Velocity