Advantest Rock (IT2.5)

The Advantest Rock facility allows to characterize the rocks in terms of mechanical properties before and after CO2 injection. A geological model to calculate storage capacity requires a reservoir characterization implemented with a large range of details and variables from geological analysis, carried out with on-site research and laboratory tests. The more detailed the variables, the more reliable the model will be in providing real information on what could happen. The facility allows to examine many elements related to the stress and strain characteristics of the tested material, which can be used to implement the geological static model. The system is made up of two different units. The first is a servo hydraulic unit for controlling up to four test frames for compression, flexure and indirect tensile tests with load, displacement and deformation control; it manages strain-controlled load-unload ramps automatically. The second unit has been specifically designed for triaxial rock testing and works as a remote-controlled pressure unit, managed from the rock control console. Triaxial tests could also be carried out automatically, making it possible to plot the entire failure path from a single specimen. The system is equipped with several devices designed to prepare the samples (cylinders with parallel surfaces).

The facility is located in the laboratories of the Sotacarbo Research Centre. All the tools necessary for the rock sample preparation are available in the Sotacarbo laboratories. The field samples can be prepared in cylindrical rock samples with the laboratory coring machine. The samples can then be instrumented for the triaxial tests.

Rock mechanics is a theoretical science concerning the physical behaviour of rocks subjected to stress conditions of different origin. Rock samples are used in the laboratory to study and define stress conditions: the stress-strain diagram can show behaviours of non-linearity also for very small strains, hysteresis, anisotropy, creep conditions. This system provides a complete range of test for the determination of Elastic Modulus and strength characteristics of rock specimen in uniaxial and triaxial conditions.