At the Institute of geotechnics are placed and used following apparatus and softwares:

In total the four triaxial testing apparatus with automated test control with load capability up to 100 kN and chamber pressure up to 3,500 kPa (depends on each apparatus). The triaxial apparatus are equipped with bender elements for measuring the stiffness in the small or very small strain range. The Wykeham Farrance ring shear apparatus enables the determination of critical and residual shear strength of soils, particularly for areas disturbed by landslides. Last but not least the four box apparatus for direct shear test.

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For testing rocks and more solid samples (jet grouting, shotcrete, etc.), the laboratory is equipped with a fully automated multifunctional instrumentation complete for automatic testing under uniaxial and triaxial stress. It consists of two load frames with a capacity of 500 kN and 3000 kN controlled by a servo-hydraulic unit. The laboratory can cover the entire testing process from the manufacture of the test samples, their testing, to the evaluation of the tests. Another superior test for which the laboratory is equipped with the appropriate apparatus is the Slake durability test used to determine the abrasion resistance during wetting and drying cycles of shale and similar soft rocks as used in embankments and other construction-related applications.

 

Automated systems for consolidation tests up to a maximum force of 10 kN and 20 kN and 9 lever edometric instruments with loads up to 1 kN. This category also includes special consolidation apparatus that allows the saturation of samples and subsequent pore pressure measurements during the test.

For laboratory measurement of permeability of geomaterials the laboratory is equipped with two permeability apparatus with a triaxial chamber. The Wykeham Farrance permeability apparatus is designed to allow permeability testing at different inlet and outlet pressure values for contaminated soils.

 

The laboratory for preparation and testing of grouting suspensions based on silicate composites of the Institute of Geotechnics is a highly specialized laboratory used to determine the technological and functional properties of suspensions. In addition to the usual equipment typical of such laboratories, it is equipped with a unique permeability apparatus of its own design, which enables long-term corrosion tests under filtration.

 

For the purpose of performing numerical geotechnical analyses, the Institute of Geotechnics has at its disposal commercial software GEO5, Plaxis 2D Ultimate and 3D Ultimate, Midas GTS NX, ZSoil, software GiD as well as software that are products of its own development (RockSlopeProb – determination of stability of nailed rock slopes, PMpLTO, Epile 2.0, EpMPF 2.0 – software for static and thermal analysis of piles).

 

The ZFMEpilot 1.0 test facility at the Institute of Geotechnics is used to model the energy pile under 1g conditions. It is an experimental facility designed for testing lone mechanically axially and thermally loaded energy piles under laboratory conditions. It is a unique device in the Czech Republic, respectively Europe.