Instrumented Salt Specimen
Ready for Confinement Vessel
Laboratory measurements are often the cornerstone for the geomechanics studies
required in the design of underground excavations. The Materials Testing
Laboratory at RESPEC provides all the testing and materials characterization
services needed for rock salt applications. Our services include routine and
custom-designed testing and analysis programs to resolve specific salt
mechanics problems and regulatory concerns.
RESPEC’s Materials Testing Laboratory is the largest and one of the best
equipped laboratories in the world for studying rock salt. Fourteen
computer-controlled, servo-hydraulic testing machines provide the specialized
test capabilities needed for controlled, multiaxial-stress conditions and
coupled thermal and mechanical loading. Strength, creep, dilation, and
creep-rupture (damage) parameters are routinely determined for use in
structural analyses. In support of storage applications, permeabilities of rock
salt and the bounding sedimentary rocks are measured under ranges of rock
stress, product pressures, temperatures, and degrees of damage to the rock. Our
laboratory is fully supported by internal instrumentation, calibration, and
quality-assurance facilities.
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