Laboratory Details

Rock Mechanics Laboratory, LaMeRoc

The Rock Mechanics Laboratory (LaMeRoc) primarily conducts experimental research in the broad field of applied rock mechanics. This includes the fundamental understanding of geomechanical processes (e.g. fracture mechanics of quasi-brittle materials under conditions above ambient) as well as the advanced investigation of coupled phenomena (i.e., thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical processes associated with the flow of reactive fluids through rocks of diverse composition).

Ongoing projects mainly focus on experimental aspects related to the green energy transition (e.g., CO2 storage and mineralization, H2 storage in depleted gas reservoirs or salt caverns, thermal energy storage in rocks and geothermal applications). These are supported by complementary activities focused on the design, improvement and adaptation of equipment to better address the challenges inherent to coupled-processes experimentation.

The facilities available at LaMeRoc are highly competitive to perform a wide range of research under both low and high pressure and temperature conditions representative of the shallow crust (i.e., several thousand meters deep). Notable equipment includes two fully-equipped pseudo-triaxial cells (MTS and GL Test Systems), two in-house-designed true-triaxial frames (for cubic samples up to 300 mm per side), several core holders, zero lateral strain consolidometers, two high-load rock shear testing apparatuses, and rock fracture toughness testing equipment suitable for experiments at room conditions or with pressurized fluids (gases or liquids) at high temperatures.

This equipment is complemented by a wide variety of data acquisition systems for monitoring signals from diverse instruments (load cells, extensometers, multichannel acoustic sensors, ultrasonic velocity platens, digital image correlation systems, etc.), enabling the measurement and/or the investigation of numerous rock properties (strength, toughness, liquid or gas permeability, static and dynamic moduli, thermal properties, breakthrough pressures, etc.)