Laboratory Technician Support: UW-Madison Rock Mechanics Laboratory for Teaching, Service, and Decadal Testing

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This award supports a new laboratory technician for the Rock Mechanics Laboratory (RML) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM). The scope of earth science research that takes place in UWM-RML spans from fundamental questions in tectonophysics and fault mechanics, to optimization of energy resource recovery. The research mission of the RML is to provide rock mechanics facilities for basic rock mechanics testing needs in various scientific/engineering projects, and to host advanced rock mechanics research addressing cutting edge issues in geomechanics and tectonophysics. The RML also hosts active educational experiences to undergraduate and graduate students through classroom activities and by providing access to advanced equipments in their researches. The new laboratory technician will help train/mentor the various users of the RML and greatly enhance the capacity to which the RML serves these roles. The dedicated technician in the RML will also foster a safety-conscious culture and environment amongst the users, and a collaborative environment to serve the US earth science community.In geomechanical problems, it is fundamental to conduct accurate reliable measurements of rock mechanical properties to properly interpret the causal relationship between the driving forces and deformation of the solid-earth. In UWM-RML, specific emphasis is on quantifying the long-term time-dependent ductile properties of crustal rocks, which have been relatively under-investigated in the rock mechanics community until recently, due to common notion that rocks more or less behave linear elastically in the crust. The new technician will contribute to the design of a robust decadal-scale testing facility which will require the development of a conventional triaxial apparatus with rigorous high-precision temperature controls. New findings from the UW-Madison RML is expected to provide the much needed data to evaluate the true impact of the ductile behavior of crustal rocks, potentially leading to transformative interpretations in geomechanics and tectonophysics. Better physical understanding of how the solid earth stores stress and deforms over decadal to geological time scales will help the society mitigate damages caused by devastating natural hazards such as earthquake, volcanoes, and landslides. Such knowledge also leads to better practices in the industry to recover subsurface resources more efficiently minimizing the impact to the environment.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.