Strength and permeability tests on ultra-large Stripa granite core
This report presents the results of laboratory tests on a 1 meter diameter by 2 meters high sample of granitic (quartz monzonite) rock from the Stripa mine in Sweden. The tests were designed to study the mechanical and hydraulic properties of the rock. Injection and withdrawal permeability tests were performed at several levels of axial stress using a borehole through the long axis of the core. The sample was pervasively fractured and its behavior under uniaxial compressive stress was very complicated. Its stress-strain behavior at low stresses was generally similar to that of small cores containing single healed fractures. However, this large core failed at a peak stress of 7.55 MPa, much less than the typical strength measured in small cores. The complex failure mechanism included a significant creep component. The sample was highly permeable, with flows-per-unit head ranging from 0.11 to 1.55 cm/sup 2//sec. Initial application of axial load caused a decrease in permeability, but this was followed by rapid increase in conductivity coincident with the failure of the core. The hydraulic regime in the fracture system was too intricate to be satisfactorily modeled by simple analogs based on the observed closure of the principal fractures. The test results contribute to the data base being compiled for the rock mass at the Stripa site, but their proper application will require synthesis of results from several laboratory and in situ test programs.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 5361784
- Report Number(s):
- LBL-11203; SAC-31; ON: DE82012590
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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580300 -- Mineralogy
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COMPRESSION STRENGTH
COORDINATED RESEARCH PROGRAMS
DATA
EUROPE
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FAILURES
FLUID MECHANICS
FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GRANITES
HYDRAULICS
IGNEOUS ROCKS
INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MECHANICS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
PERMEABILITY
PLUTONIC ROCKS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
ROCKS
SCANDINAVIA
STORAGE
STRESS ANALYSIS
SWEDEN
UNDERGROUND STORAGE
USA
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
WESTERN EUROPE