Design, Fabrication and Testing of a Rock Instrumentation System for Monitoring the Thermal-Mechanical Response of Basalt

In situ testing was conducted to monitor the thermal-mechanical response of basalt subjected to heat loads simulating those expected in an actual nuclear waste repository. This paper describes the rock instrumentation system, the reliability testing program and the instrument modifications which were adopted as a result of that testing. Over 20 different performance tests were undertaken to provide calibration factors and to verify the reliability of the instruments under water-saturated conditions and temperatures as high as 200/degree/C. 9 refs.