Testing equipments of the geotechnical laboratory                Equipments of the iTEC institute

	Rock mechanics testing equipments Since 2018, the laboratory is equipped by a 3000 kN loading frame and servo-hydraulic control consoles for carrying out uniaxial and triaxial compression tests as well as Brazilian tests on rocks and high performance concrete samples. The specimens can be cored, sawed and grinded to guarantee the flatness and parallelism requirements of testing standards.
	Testing cell for hollow cylinders The laboratory has a special triaxial cell allowing to perform tests on thick-walled hollow cylinders with an external diameter of 86 to 98 mm and a central hole of 14 mm in diameter. The outer and inner surfaces of the specimens are covered by drains (geotextile) and neoprene jackets. There are four separate hydraulic circuits and pressure–volume controllers for an independent control of the outer and inner confining pressures as well as of the outer and inner drain pressures. The body cell is made of aluminium to allow scans of the sample through the cell walls in an X-ray computed tomography device.
	Device for the physical modelling of granular flows A large physical model (4 x 6 m in size) allows analysing the propagation of dry granular materials on a slope ending with a horizontal accumulation area. Several testing parameters can be varied: material used (sand, gravel, small bricks), release height, volume and geometry of the mass as well as its release sequence (at once or at different times), inclination of the slope, surface roughness and morphology of the transition between the panels (sharp angular or curved).
	Standard equipments In addition to the above-listed special equipments, the laboratory is furnished for students practical works with standard equipments for the identification and classification of soils, for measuring their density and moisture content as well as for determining their mechanical and rheological properties.