Publications Details

Direct Shear and Triaxial Shear test Results on Core from Borehole U-15n and U-15n#10, NNSS in support of SPE

Broome, Scott; Lee, Moo; Sussman, Aviva J.

Direct Shear (DS) and Triaxial Shear (FCT) tests from Core holes U-15n and U-15n#10 are part of a larger material characterization effort for the Source Physics Experiment (SPE) project. This larger effort encompasses characterizing a granite body from Nevada both before and after each SPE shot. Core hole U-15n is the vertically oriented source hole for all SPE shots; pre shot core was taken from this hole for DS and FCT testing. After two SPE shots were executed, an inclined core hole (U-15n#10) was drilled; both DS and FCT tests were conducted from this core hole. The first shot (SPE-1) conducted on May 3, 2011 was a calibration shot. SPE-1 was an order of magnitude smaller than the second shot (SPE-2). After SPE-2 was conducted on October 25, 2011 the aforementioned inclined core hole (U-15n#10) was drilled. At its bottom, the inclined core hole intersects the source hole. The third shot (SPE-3) occurred on July 24, 2012. Vertical and inclined core holes were drilled post SPE-3 and specimens will soon be selected for geomechanical characterization. At the time of this writing, work is ongoing at Nevada in preparation for the fourth SPE shot (SPE-4).