TRILAB is designed to reproduce the stress conditions that rocks experience underground, allowing researchers to study their mechanical behaviour with high accuracy. By independently controlling axial stress, confining pressure and pore pressure, the device creates a realistic three-dimensional stress environment. This enables measurement of key properties such as triaxial compressive strength, elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, deformation behaviour, and post-failure response. It also allows investigation of fracture initiation, microcrack evolution, and long-term processes like creep or compaction. When combined with hydraulic or acoustic measurements, the unit provides insight into how stress influences fluid flow, pore structure, and seismic properties. When equipped with hydraulic fracturing capabilities, the cell allows controlled injection of fracturing fluid into a sample’s borehole to study fracture initiation and propagation under reservoir-like stresses. Integrated Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring provides high-resolution detection of microcrack activity throughout loading and fracturing, revealing fracture precursors and damage evolution. Overall, TRILAB is a versatile tool for understanding rock mechanics, hydraulic fracturing behaviour, and geomechanical processes under realistic subsurface conditions.
Specifications
| Axial load range | TRILAB 1000 : 0-1000 kN TRILAB 2000 : 0-2500 kN
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Confining pressure range
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0- 70/100 MPa
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Pore pressure range
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0- 70/100 MPa
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Temperature range
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ambient to 150°C
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Specimen diameter
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TRILAB 1000: up to 54.7 mm (NX) TRILAB 2000: 54.7 mm to 100 mm
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Specimen length
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twice the diameter
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Wetted parts
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Stainless steel
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Power supply
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110-220VAC, 50/60Hz
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Benefits
* Measures rock strength & deformation: Pre-failure behaviour, peak and residual strength, creep.
* Measures rock properties: Stress-dependent porosity, permeability, compressibility, Vp/Vs, resistivity.
* Measures rock damage & fractures: Microcracking and fracture growth via Acoustic Emission.