ASSESSMENT OF THE COMPRESSIVE STRENGHT, ELASTIC MODULUS AND TENSILE STRENGHT OF ROCKS

Rock-strength tests.

Assessment of the compressive strength, elastic modulus and tensile strength of rocks

escOrsa’s rock mechanics laboratory has equipment to determine the strength parameters of geological materials. This equipment includes a 2000 kN compression press, monitored by pressure and speed servo control, which is able to conduct simple compression testing and determine the elastic modulus (Young and Poisson) through the use of extensometric sensors.

Caracterización de resistencia en rocas

Mechanical assessment of irregular fragments and hand samples

Hand samples or irregular fragments are assayed by obtaining appropriate morphology samples from larger blocks. Fragments with irregular morphology are also tested under a point-load test, or Franklin test.

Practical applications of rock assessment

Analysis of the geomechanical behaviour of rocks is essential in infrastructure design calculations for civil engineering. The estimation of the ultimate compression strength of a rock or its elastic moduli is used for foundation design, calculation of slope stability and underground excavation, identification of terrain rippability and geomechanical assessments (rock mass rating [RMR]), among other applications.