Positioning (Manual Tilt)

This test configuration is normally coupled with other test configuration(s) to improve measurement when the surface of the sample is not flat. For example, when a disk sample (or core) has nonparallel surfaces, it is sometimes necessary to tilt the sample to obtain a better alignment with the unconfined compression plateaus. It can also be coupled with indentation and manual positioning to perform manual mechanical mapping of samples with non-planar surfaces. In this latter case, at each location of interest, the surface is tilted to be visually aligned perpendicularly with the compression axis to minimize shear and sliding during indentation.