ENHANCED TRIAXIAL TESTER WITH VOLUME CHANGE DEVICE FOR MEASUREMENT OF FLOW PROPERTIES OF DRY PARTICULATE SYSTEMS UNDER LOW CONFINING PRESSURES

摘要

Disclosed is a triaxial system (10) for testing particulate matter under substantially dry triaxial load conditions comprising: a housing means (12) fillable with confining fluid (14) for provinding confining pressure on a specimen of dry particulate matter to be tested, the housing having an opening (20) for introduction therein and removal therefrom of the confining fluid, a load piston (15) sealingly extends for providing a load on the specimen, a vessel (13) which is mounting means for mounting the specimen within the housing, the specimen mounting means including a top end platen (16) for mounting at the top and a bottom end platen (17) for disposition at the bottom of the specimen, at least one flexible, impermeable membrane (18) for enclosing the surface of the the specimen other than its ends, a line (21) which is fluid passage means connecting the housing to a volume change sensor (23) for freely delivering confining fluid thereto, and the volume change sensor adapted to measure the volume of confining fluid delivered thereto through the fluid passage means. Also disclosed is a test method for employing the above system to test particulate matter.