With help from Matias Rosenau and Ehsan Kosari, Hanna and Michele ran a suite of restraining bend experiments within sand. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to run experiments in the famed GFZ Potsdam analog experiment facility.
The geomechanics lab received a welcome xmas gift of a rheometer. The Anton Paar MCR102 will allow us to measure the deformation of various analogs for the Earth’s crust using both stress and strain controlled experiments. Yippee!
On Monday February 10th, the geo631 Rock Fracture Mechanics class ran an extensional experiment. We extended 2.5 cm thick layer of kaolin over an 7 cm wide elastic sheet. Michele live tweeted the experiment on @geomechCooke. Below are some of the images. Next week, the class will analyze data collected from digital image correlation and Next week, the class will analyze data collected from digital image correlation and assess the normal fault array evolution.
After 3 months of effort by a lot of people, the physical modeling lab is back in action!
This 20 sec video highlights some of the improvements.
Made from data within Hatem et al., 2017.
See this and other cool movies and animations on our YouTube channel.
I could watch this shear strain map from the uncut, distributed basal shear deep faulting experiment all day.
The Geomechanics Physical Experiment Lab got upgraded with new motors and a swanky control system! Yee haw!
Since the electrical work to fix an outlet two weeks ago caused a power surge that fried our old system, we decided to turn crisis into opportunity by getting bigger, faster, and better motors. Kevin, Yijun and John Sweeney did a fabulous job installing and calibrating the new system.
Yijun is a rising senior at Carleton College and will be working in the Geomechanics Experimental Lab on strike-slip fault evolution through mid August. She will incorporate her experiments this summer into her senior thesis.
GRowth by Optimization of Work