Jan 29 2008
Earthquakes, volcanoes, water, mining and radioactive waste can all impact rock strength and stability. Now, a cutting-edge facility at the University of Toronto will help researchers accurately understand and predict how rocks will react to these different types of stress. The new Rock Fracture Dynamics Laboratory (RFDL) is the only laboratory in the world where rock samples can be tested under true earth-like stress and temperature conditions while imaging deformation.
“The facility enables us to perform geophysical imaging on samples of rocks so we can now visualize what’s going on inside the rock as it is happening,” says Professor Paul Young, Keck Chair of Seismology and Rock Mechanics and Vice President, Research at the University of Toronto. “It will also boost partnerships and be a strong catalyst for collaboration with the top international researchers in the fields of rock mechanics and geophysics.”
A key part of the facility is the advanced computer system called the High Performance Computing Cluster (HPCC) consisting of 64 quad-core 64-bit processors and 4-8GB RAM per processor. In near-real time, the HPCC processes and displays results from 400 MB/s of data being collected from geophysical acquisition computers. As well as experimental data processing for imaging, the HPCC will allow much larger and higher resolution models to be produced then ever before.
The RFDL was made possible through $5 million funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Ontario Innovation Trust, Ontario Ministry of Research and innovation and the U.S. Keck Foundation as well as industry contributions including MTS Systems Corporation, Dell Canada Inc, and Microsoft.