Sandia National Laboratories – Geomechanics Lab

The Geomechanics Laboratory enables the measurement of seabed strength properties under a wide range of simulated service conditions up to very high, cyclic pressures and complex load paths. Staff at the laboratory can determine and perform the appropriate lab tests to parameterize constitutive models needed in geotechnical numerical modeling of coupled poromechanical processes, for example, to assess the potential impact of cyclic loading from mooring lines on loss of strength of seafloor sediment near an anchor or the creep of anchors into shallower sediments. The staff also have experiments that determine the accuracy of design procedures in the laboratory.

Capabilities include:

• Characterization of natural fracture systems
• Identification and modeling of rock deformation and failure processes
• Laboratory determinations of thermo-mechanical and transport properties of competent rock and natural fractures, including studies of coupled effects
• Extrapolation of laboratory measurements to field conditions
• In situ stress measurements and evaluation of in situ boundary conditions
• Laboratory and bench-scale validation studies

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Point of Contact: Jason Heath - jeheath@sandia.gov