A versatile microtomography system to study in situ the failure and fragmentation in geomaterials

This article describes a microtomography experimental platform enabling in situ micro-mechanical study of failure and fragmentation in geomaterials. The system is based on an original high-pressure triaxial flow cell, which is fully integrated into a custom built microtomography scanner equipped with a laboratory x-ray source. The design of the high-precision mechanical apparatus was informed by the concurrent development of advanced tomographic reconstruction methods based on helical scanning and of algorithms correcting for hardware inaccuracies. This experimental system produces very high-quality 3D images of microstructural changes occurring in rocks undergoing mechanical failure and substantial fragmentation. We present the results of two experiments as case studies to demonstrate the capabilities and versatility of this instrumental platform. These experiments tackle various questions related to the onset of rock failure, the hydromechanical coupling and relaxation mechanisms in fractured rocks, or the fragmentation process in geomaterials such as copper ores.