Experiments on rocks under high pressure conditions in GTA 20-32 triaxial press

Abstract

The paper describes the methodology of measurements in the GTA 20-32 triaxial press. The deformation behaviour of two different types of rocks was compared:  gypsum with plastic deformation even at lower confining pressure,  Carboniferous sandstone with brittle failure even at the highest confining pressure. The influence of gypsum layering was studied as well. The experimental results show that the deformation and strength properties of the gypsum in the triaxial state of stress do not significantly depend on the orientation of axial stress to the observed layering.