1st Scientific Colloquium - Large Scale Testing (Linking Research and Industry)

Session

Fundamentals and experimental testing for rock and rock mass

Sep 15, 2026, 10:20 AM

Geb. 40.50 (Engler-Bunte Hörsaal) (KIT Campus Süd)

26. Large-scale true-triaxial rock testing apparatus

Mr Alexander Cadmus (GUT, Rwth Aachen)

9/15/26, 10:20 AM

Fundamentals and experimental testing for rock and rock mass

Fundamentals and experimental testing for rock and rock mass

The True-Triaxial Apparatus is designed to accommodate 30 x 30 x 45 cm rock specimens at the Institute of Geomechanics and Underground Technology (GUT), RWTH Aachen. Initial experiments were designed to observe fracture propagation and rock behavior of dry igneous rocks undergoing hydraulic fracturing, with the aim to improve understanding of enhanced geothermal systems at target depths of...

19. Observations from large-scale triaxial compression tests at jointed slaking rock masses

Jonathan Caspar Walter (IBF)

9/15/26, 10:40 AM

Fundamentals and experimental testing for rock and rock mass

Fundamentals and experimental testing for rock and rock mass

Triaxial compression tests are commonly used to characterise strength and deformation behaviour of rock to get parameters for engineering design and modelling. For classic triaxial tests, samples are usually selected that they can be considered intact, in order to determine parameters of the intact rock. However, large-scale tests enable the investigation of inhomogeneous samples, which may...

41. From facility development to multiphysics measurements including predictive and retrospective TH2M-coupled numerical simulations: A large-scale triaxial test system for repository engineering

Ralf Wolters-Zhao (TU Clausthal)

9/15/26, 11:00 AM

Fundamentals and experimental testing for rock and rock mass

Fundamentals and experimental testing for rock and rock mass

Reliable repository engineering requires experimental systems that can reproduce coupled thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical boundary conditions at a scale far beyond standard laboratory testing. This contribution presents the development, qualification, and strategic re-use of a large-scale triaxial test system developed at Clausthal University of Technology (TUC) – Chair for Geomechanics and...

38. Large Scale Testing of Jointed Rock Mass: True Triaxial Loading and Anisotropy

Mr Bernhard Stabel (Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG), Mr Hans-Joachim Stech (Holzhäuser Ingenieur Consult GmbH), Thomas Mutschler (Past: KIT, Institute of Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechaniks)

9/15/26, 11:20 AM

Fundamentals and experimental testing for rock and rock mass

Fundamentals and experimental testing for rock and rock mass

Large scale tests on cylindrical specimen are well established in major rock engineering projects in Germany. Suggested methods of ISRM and DGGT describe the standard procedures. The paper reviews two case studies of LST where testing procedures exceeded the given standards:
• for the 1060 MW Goldisthal Pumped Storage Project prismatic samples were tested under true triaxial loading...