Rock Salt Testing
Laboratory measurements are often the cornerstone for the geomechanics studies required in the design of underground excavations. The Materials Testing Laboratory at RESPEC provides all the testing and materials characterization services needed for rock salt applications. Our services include routine and custom-designed testing and analysis programs to resolve specific salt mechanics problems and regulatory concerns.
RESPEC’s Materials Testing Laboratory is the largest and one of the best equipped laboratories in the world for studying rock salt. Fourteen computer-controlled, servo-hydraulic testing machines provide the specialized test capabilities needed for controlled, multiaxial-stress conditions and coupled thermal and mechanical loading. Strength, creep, dilation, and creep-rupture (damage) parameters are routinely determined for use in structural analyses. In support of storage applications, permeabilities of rock salt and the bounding sedimentary rocks are measured under ranges of rock stress, product pressures, temperatures, and degrees of damage to the rock. Our laboratory is fully supported by internal instrumentation, calibration, and quality-assurance facilities.