Strength and deformation characteristics of rock salt are extremely important parameters for the design

construction and safe operation of underground energy and waste repositories. However

these require accurate measurements of the strength parameters for the concerned rock salt. In this study

samples of rock salt from Jintan in Jiangsu province and Jianghan in Hubei province

respectively

are chosen for triaxial compression tests to locally determine their short-term strength and deformation parameters. This allows a comparison of the Germany test and data processing methods

performed on behalf of the Western countries

and the Chinese test and data processing methods. Based on the German method including its shortcomings for determining the damage boundary of Jintan rock salt which was employed in the German short-term strength test

this paper presents an improved method and calculates the damage boundary for the Jintan rock salt. Comparison between the two test and data processing methods reveals that German experimental measurements yield lower strength parameter values for rock salt with large deformation. Hence the German test and data processing methods

in which the change of the sample cross-section area is considered and the data are secondarily revised by using scientific strain instead of engineering strain.