Geomechanical properties of Topopah Spring Tuff at the 0.5-m scale: preliminary results of compression tests at elevated temperature

This report presents preliminary results of laboratory testing of a small block sample of Topopah Spring Tuff. This is the first in a series of tests on small block samples. The purpose of these tests is to investigate the thermal-mechanical, thermal-hydrological, and thermal-chemical response of the rock to conditions similar to the near-field environment (NFE) of a potential nuclear waste repository. This report presents preliminary results of deformation and elastic- wave velocity measurements on a 0.5-m scale block of Topopah Spring tuff tested in uniaxial compression and at temperatures to 85{degrees}C