#Industry News
Testing the properties of rocks under the influence of temperature
Testing system for the Institute of Geotechnics at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg
What will mining look like in the future? Will we find ways to store energy permanently? What are the possibilities for sustainable and safe construction? The Institute of Geotechnical Engineering at TU Bergakademie Freiberg is dealing with these and many other topics. In order to find answers to these and other questions, the material properties of geomaterials and building materials, for example, are determined in laboratory tests.
For this task, the Department of Geomechanics, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engeneering at the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering has equipped its Rock Mechanics Laboratory with a Hegewald & Peschke rock testing machine with climate chamber. It is used for testing the mechanical properties of specimens made of solid rock (bedrock) under specific climatic conditions.
The test system consists of a universal testing machine inspekt 400 kN with climatic test chamber -30°C to 100°C, a 4-point bending jig and accessories for compression tests. The test procedure and the test evaluation are carried out with the testing software LabMaster. Rocks are subject to changes caused by heat on the one hand and frost on the other. These environmental conditions can be simulated with this test system. Mechanical processes such as deformation and stress are tested in compression and bending tests. In this way, the materials can be understood and characterized with regard to their subsequent possible uses.
