Transcripción del resúmen publicado por el autor: In the oil and gas industry, it has been estimated that in excess of US$ 500 millions [Chen X., Tan C.P., Haberfield C.M. (2000) Numerical evaluation of the deformation behaviour of thick walled hollow cylinders of shale, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. 37, 947-961] are lost each year because of wellbore instability. Laboratory tests on thick-walled hollow cylinders of rock are a relatively easy, economical and realistic mean to better understand the mechanisms associated to wellbore failure. This research consisted in the development of an experimental device to carry out tests on thick-walled hollow cylinders under distinct condition: tests with convergent radial flow of pore fluid (to simulate the wellbore during its phase of production). The latter is one of the key advantages of this experimental device since this possibility of radial flow does not exist in the majority of studies reported in the literature.

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