Figure F3. Schematic diagram of the triaxial apparatus. Confining pressure and axial stress are controlled by a high-pressure syringe pump using silicone oil as the confining medium. In our tests, the axial stress and confining pressure are equal, to achieve an isostatic loading path. Upstream and downstream pore pressures are controlled by two syringe pumps, to allow flow-through permeability measurements. Sample length is measured via an external linear variable differential transformer (LVDT), and length changes are corrected for the system compliance using an empirically defined calibration.
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