This award will provide one-half the funding needed to build a biaxial testing apparatus to be installed and operated in the rock mechanics laboratory of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT is committed to providing the remaining funds required for the project. The materials testing system will be used by the staff of the rock mechanics group at MIT as an integral part of their research on rock friction and its role in faulting of the Earth' crust and the generation of earthquakes.
