Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
are also needed that are rigorous enough to inspire confidence in the security
conditions related to the operation of these structures.
4.2.1. Triaxial and oedometric equipment at the IDIEM
Recently, the Instituto de Investigaciones y de Ensayos de Materiales (IDIEM),
based at the University of Chile, developed a controlled load triaxial apparatus that
can reach confining pressures up to 3 MPa with large-sized samples of up to 1.0 m
in diameter and 1.8 m in height. According to these dimensions, the materials tested
can present a maximum of size up to 0.2 m (8”). The equipment (see Figure 4.1) has
a reaction frame designed for a maximum working load of 20 MN and a testing
chamber in the shape of a bottle with an interior diameter of 1.74 m and height of
2.66 m. It has six lower entrances for high-pressure hoses and eight connectors for
sensors. The volumetric control is executed with the use of a high-pressure tank
located on a support frame with a loading cell that records the volumetric change of
the sample by weight. The air and water pressures are regulated through a master
panel, while the control is due to a double system of precision manometers and
pressure sensors. The load on the sample is applied with four hydraulic jacks with
control performed through a loading cell of 5 MN capacity.
Deformation control is managed through three displacement sensors attached to
the loading piston and located equidistant from each other. Furthermore,
three pressure sensors are used, one to control the confining pressure and the
remaining two for the control of the pore pressures inside the sample. Finally, data
acquisition during the test is carried out with an analog-digital system.
Figure 4.1. Loading frame (left) and a sample pf D=1.0 m and H=1.8 m (right)
after the application of large-scale triaxial equipment of controlled load.
IDIEM, University of Chile [BAR 07a]
Search WWH ::




Custom Search