Preliminary results of gypsum mechanical characterization

Gypsum is an important raw material, widely used for constructions and other industrial sectors. Despite it is largely exploited around the world, due to its high heterogeneity, there are still some open issues concerning its mechanical behaviour. In scientific literature, many studies on synthetic pure gypsum are presented, but few references can be found on pure gypsum mechanical properties. Average grain size, grain size distribution and grain sorting of gypsum crystals strongly affect geomechanical features. In this paper, Uniaxial Compression (UCS) tests were performed on 6 samples from the Primary Lower Gypsum Unit of the Monferrato area in the Tertiary Piedmont Basin (TPB). The homogeneity of the samples in term of grain size distribution was evaluated with an image analysis technique, in order to justify the possibility to compare and group together the results. Results are critically discussed for providing new references to help geologists and engineers for planning exploitation activities.