1. GCTS RTX-1500 Triaxial Testing System
2. Advanced Hydrostatic Compression System
3. High-Pressure Consolidation/Resedimentation System
4. Advanced Core Flooding System
5. Bruker SKYSCAN 1273 – Micro X-Ray Computed Tomography
6. High-Pressure High-Temperature Titanium Reactor
7. ODiSI 7100 Series Optical Distributed Sensor Interrogators
The RTX-1500 from GCTS is an advanced triaxial testing system engineered for high-precision rock mechanics experiments under true in-situ stress conditions. Designed to evaluate strength, deformation, and fluid transport behavior, the system supports both static and dynamic loading scenarios with thermal and pore pressure control.
Key Specifications:
Axial Load Capacity: Up to 1500 kN (e.g., 2.9 GPa for Ø1″ samples; 740 MPa for Ø2″)
Confining Pressure: Up to 140 MPa
Pore Pressure: Up to 140 MPa
Temperature Control: 20–200 °C
Strain Rate: Up to 10⁻³ s⁻¹
Displacement Measurement: 2 axial + 1 circumferential LVDTs (±2.5 mm)
Integrated Capabilities:
Servo-controlled axial actuator for precise loading
SCON-2000 digital control system for real-time automation and high-speed data acquisition
HPVC-140 intensifier for stable pressure control
CATS software for test programming, monitoring, and data analysis
ISCO pumps for controlled injection of CO₂, H₂, or other fluids
Ultrasonic transducers for in-situ P- and S-wave velocity measurements
Measured Properties:
Drained and undrained bulk modulus (K, Kʹₛ), Young’s modulus (E), Poisson’s ratio (nu)
Biot coefficient (alpha), Skempton’s B coefficient (B)
Permeability (k), relative permeability (kr)
Unconfined compressive strength (UCS), hydraulic fracture testing
Advanced Hydrostatic Compression System
Our advanced hydrostatic compression system is designed for high-pressure poromechanical testing under purely isotropic stress conditions, without axial loading. The system enables precise control of confining and pore pressures while allowing full flexibility in sample geometry.
Key Specifications:
Confining Pressure: Up to 70 MPa
Pore Pressure: Up to 70 MPa
Axial Load: Not applied (hydrostatic)
Specimen Geometry: Unrestricted (customizable sample sizes and shapes)
Integrated Capabilities:
Direct strain gauge instrumentation for accurate volumetric strain measurements
Fully coupled pore fluid injection and flow monitoring
Compatible with fluid flow and permeability experiments under hydrostatic conditions
Measured Properties:
Drained, Unjacketed, Undrained Bulk moduli: K, Ks’, Ku
Permeability (k), Skempton’s B coefficient (B)
This system enables high-resolution consolidation and poromechanical testing of clay-rich geomaterials under controlled vertical stress conditions. It is specifically designed to generate full-saturation, resedimented specimens with well-defined stress and porosity states.
Key Capabilities:
Maximum Vertical Stress: Up to 100 MPa
Oedometer configuration (zero lateral strain)
Sample Preparation: Fully saturated, resedimented specimens with tunable void ratio
Stress-Porosity Control: Enables systematic correlation of porosity with vertical stress
Advanced Testing Features:
In-situ multiphase fluid injection under controlled loading
CO₂ and brine flow tests for breakthrough experiments
Capillary pressure and relative permeability characterization
Measured Properties:
Porosity
Consolidation parameters (e.g., Cc, Cr, Cv,Ca)
Intrinsic permeability (k), Relative permeability (kr)
CO₂ breakthrough pressure
The advanced core flooding system is a high-pressure flow system designed for coupled hydro-mechanical transport tests with real-time medical CT visualization. The setup integrates an X-ray–transparent pressure vessel and precision flow control to quantify permeability, multiphase behavior, and poroelastic response during injection.
Key Specifications
Specimen Diameter: 1–2 in core plugs
Confining Pressure: Up to 50 MPa
Pore Pressure: Up to 50 MPa
Flow Rate Range: 0.001–100 mL/min
Deformation Sensing: Axial/circumferential strain gauge measurements
Imaging Integration
CT Platform: Toshiba Aquilion medical X-ray CT
Core Holder: X-ray transparent pressure vessel
Capability: Time-lapse CT during flow and pressurization
Output: 3D saturation distribution
Integrated Capabilities
Single- and multiphase core flood testing
In-situ displacement monitoring
Compatible with brine, gas, and reactive fluids
Measured Properties
Intrinsic permeability (k)
Relative permeability (kr)
Skempton coefficient (B)
CT-derived saturation and flow-path evolution
The Bruker SKYSCAN 1273 is a X-ray micro-CT designed for multi-scale 3D imaging of geomaterials. The system supports large sample geometries while maintaining micron-scale spatial resolution, which makes it suitable for fracture and pore network characterization.
Key Specifications
X-ray Spot Size: < 5 µm equivalent focal spot
Maximum Sample Size: Up to 500 mm height and 300 mm diameter (XL configuration)
Maximum Voltage / Power: 130 kV, 39 W
ODiSI 7100 Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing System
The ODiSI 7100 (Optical Distributed Sensor Interrogator) from Luna Innovations is a high-resolution distributed fiber optic sensing system based on Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry (OFDR). It is designed for real-time strain and temperature monitoring in laboratory testing, structural health monitoring, materials characterization, and geomechanics applications. The system provides continuous measurements along the entire length of an optical fiber sensor with sub-millimeter spatial resolution.
Key Specifications
Measurement Principle: Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry (OFDR)
Measured Parameters: Distributed strain and temperature
Spatial Resolution: Up to 0.65 mm / Fiber Diameter: < 0.2 mm
Real-time distributed strain and temperature measurement along optical fibers
Applications
Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing (DFOS)
Thermal deformation monitoring
Full-field strain localization and crack initiation analysis
