Abstract In order to observe and measure the rock void structure characteristics under different stress conditions,a triaxial test instrument which can work with micro focus X-Ray computerized tomograph was developed. The apparatus is lightweight. It can exert triaxial pressure on the rock specimen,and carry out CT scan and permeability measurement on the specimen without unloading pressure. Besides,it can record pressure and deformation in real time. Using this device,a series of CT images during triaxial loading process for Berea sandstone were generated. Combining with the 3DMA computational package for analyzing the void structure,some quantitative microscopic geometric characteristics of Berea sandstone in different stress states,such as effective pore radii size distribution,effective throat radii size distribution,and tortuosity distribution,have been obtained. The permeability of Berea sandstone in different directions under various effective confining pressures was measured with a transient pulse technique. Combining the permeability test result with the computed result about influence of confining pressure on microscopic void structure parameters,we can see that the change of microscopic void structure is the root cause of permeability change. When increasing the effective confining pressure from 0 to 15 MPa,the permeability reduction is caused by a decrease in the population of pores with a radius of 40–100 μm,decrease in the pore and throat radius,and increase in the tortuosity in the Z direction in stressed Berea sandstone.
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