Description

TRILAB is designed to reproduce the stress conditions that rocks experience underground, allowing researchers to study their mechanical behaviour with high accuracy. By independently controlling axial stress, confining pressure and pore pressure, the device creates a realistic three-dimensional stress environment. This enables measurement of key properties such as triaxial compressive strength, elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, deformation behaviour, and post-failure response. It also allows investigation of fracture initiation, microcrack evolution, and long-term processes like creep or compaction. When combined with hydraulic or acoustic measurements, the unit provides insight into how stress influences fluid flow, pore structure, and seismic properties.  When equipped with hydraulic fracturing capabilities, the cell allows controlled injection of fracturing fluid into a sample’s borehole to study fracture initiation and propagation under reservoir-like stresses. Integrated Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring provides high-resolution detection of microcrack activity throughout loading and fracturing, revealing fracture precursors and damage evolution. Overall, TRILAB is a versatile tool for understanding rock mechanics, hydraulic fracturing behaviour, and geomechanical processes under realistic subsurface conditions.

 
For more information, please visit Floxlab's website: floxlab