Major Experimental Equipment
The GeoD group has added more than $2M in advanced equipment to the UW-Madison capabilities and also shares facilities with the existing world class rock mechanics laboratory here at UW-Madison as well as the Thermal Geomechanics Laboratory. The collaborative nature of the Geological Engineering program combined with state of the art equipment developed under previous and current PIs/researchers makes for a facility that is truly rivaled. Not shown here are the numerous other rock mechanics and geophysics equipment such as a benchtop ultrasonic velocity system, acoustic emission systems, fiber optic sensing (lab and field), among others.
GeoD Polyaxial Apparatus
High-pressure and high-temperature polyaxial apparatus capable of stressing a large prismatic block (30 x 30 x 45 cm) in five independent zones (true triaxial and layered stress in the long dimension) up to 30 MPa and temperatures up to 200 C. System features a drill-through top lid while under stress and temperature conditions effectively simulating the wellbore drilling, cementing, hydraulic fracturing, and production processes in geothermal environments.
NER HPHT Triaxial Apparatus
High-pressure and high-temperature triaxial apparatus that incorporates simultaneous geophysical measurements while automatically traversing arbitrary loading paths and environments. Confining and pore pressures up to 140 MPa. Axial force up to 4,000 kN. Temperature up to 150 C. Specimen diameters between 1-4 inches.
MTS 816 Triaxial Apparatus
High-pressure triaxial apparatus that incorporates simultaneous geophysical measurements while automatically traversing arbitrary loading paths and environments. Confining and pore pressures up to 70 MPa. Axial force up to 500 kN. Specimen diameters between 1-2 inches.
Remote Sensing Equipment
Fiber optic sensing systems information coming soon!