Two new and related true-triaxial apparatus are described that make use of conventional triaxial pressure vessels in combination with specially configured, high-pressure hydraulic jacks inside these vessels. The development combines advantages not found in existing facilities, including a compact design, pore-pressure and flow-through capabilities, the ability to attain high principal stresses and principal stress differences, direct access to parts of the sample, and provisions to go to relatively large deformations without developing serious stress field inhomogeneities.

This is the first book ever published on the problems of true triaxial testing of rocks addressing all aspects of true triaxial testing of rocks, including: (i) true triaxial testing techniques and procedures; (ii) test results: strength, deformability, failure mode, permeability, acoustic emission, and elastic wave velocity; (iii) constitutive laws and failure criteria; and (iv) applications to geoengineering and geosciences. Recent developments in the field of true triaxial testing of rocks are presented, as well as a thorough review of the most important achievements in the whole history of true triaxial testing of rocks. Almost all researchers from around the world engaged in the true triaxial testing of rocks over the last three decades have contributed to this work. The authors originate from different branches of geoengineering and geosciences, including civil engineering, engineering geology, geotechnical engineering, mining engineering, petroleum engineering, seismology, and tectonophysics.

This is the first book ever published on the problems of true triaxial testing of rocks addressing all aspects of true triaxial testing of rocks, including: (i) true triaxial testing techniques and procedures; (ii) test results: strength, deformability, failure mode, permeability, acoustic emission, and elastic wave velocity; (iii) constitutiv

"Although the triaxial compression test is presently the most widely used procedure for determining strength and stress-deformation properties of soils, there have been no books published on triaxial testing since the 1962 second edition of the landmark work The Measurement of Soil Properties in the Triaxial Test by Bishop and Henkel. It is apparent there is a need to document advances made in triaxial testing since publication of Bishop and Henkel's book and to examine the current state of the art in a forum devoted solely to triaxial testing. Because of increasing versatility brought about by recent developments in testing techniques and equipment, it is also important that the geotechnical profession be provided with an up-to-date awareness of potential uses for the triaxial test."--Overview.

A new experimental apparatus for rock-specimen analysis has been developed in Laboratoire 3SR (Grenoble) to characterize the evolution under loading of the deformation mode, placing particular attention on the onset of strain localization and the post-localization regime in rocks. The experimental apparatus can be configured to apply true triaxial or plane strain conditions on prismatic specimens, with a confining pressure of up to 100 MPa. The three principal stresses are independently controlled to apply true triaxial conditions. When applying plane strain conditions, the stress perpendicular to the observed specimen's surface is proportionally varied as a function of the loading applied on the specimen, to satisfy the condition of zero strain along this direction. The prismatic specimen can be observed under loading, because its surface, orthogonal with the direction of the intermediate principal stress, is in contact with a hard window (sapphire), thus allowing pictures to be taken throughout the test, as well as enabling full-field measurement. Photographs are analyzed by digital image correlation (DIC) to measure displacement and strain fields. The new true triaxial apparatus is presented here, first with a description of the experimental setup and mechanical characteristics of the cell. Then, the experimental procedure adopted to apply and assess the speckle pattern on the sample's surface, as required for DIC, is detailed. Finally, selected results from a test performed with the true triaxial device on a Vosges sandstone sample, performed in plane strain compression, are shown. The onset of strain localization and the shear bands' pattern evolution are shown by means of incremental strain fields obtained by DIC.

Laboratory and Field Testing is the second volume of the five-volume set Rock Mechanics and Engineering and contains nineteen chapters from key experts in the following fields: - Triaxial or True-triaxial Tests under Condition of Loading and Unloading; - Joint Tests; - Dynamic and Creep Tests; - Physical Modeling Tests; - Field Testing and URLs. The five-volume set “Comprehensive Rock Engineering”, which was published in 1993, has had an important influence on the development of rock mechanics and rock engineering. Significant and extensive advances and achievements in these fields over the last 20 years now justify the publishing of a comparable, new compilation. Rock Mechanics and Engineering represents a highly prestigious, multi-volume work edited by Professor Xia-Ting Feng, with the editorial advice of Professor John A. Hudson. This new compilation offers an extremely wideranging and comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in rock mechanics and rock engineering and is composed of peer-reviewed, dedicated contributions by all the key experts worldwide. Key features of this set are that it provides a systematic, global summary of new developments in rock mechanics and rock engineering practices as well as looking ahead to future developments in the fields. Contributors are worldrenowned experts in the fields of rock mechanics and rock engineering, though younger, talented researchers have also been included. The individual volumes cover an extremely wide array of topics grouped under five overarching themes: Principles (Vol. 1), Laboratory and Field Testing (Vol. 2), Analysis, Modelling and Design (Vol. 3), Excavation, Support and Monitoring (Vol. 4) and Surface and Underground Projects (Vol. 5). This multi-volume work sets a new standard for rock mechanics and engineering compendia and will be the go-to resource for all engineering professionals and academics involved in rock mechanics and engineering for years to come.