Performance of the Opalinus Clay under thermal loading: experimental results from Mont Terri rock laboratory (Switzerland)

Gens, Antonio; Wieczorek, Klaus; Gaus, Irina; Garitte, Benoit; Mayor, Juan Carlos; Schuster, Kristof; Armand, Gilles; García-Siñeriz, José Luis; Trick, Thomas

doi:10.1007/s00015-016-0258-8

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(4 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Evolution of temperature at different distances of the heater axis. Experiment HE-D (Gens et al 2017).…”

Section: Thermal Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

On the thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of Argillaceous hard soils - weak rocks

Tourchi¹

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Analysis and interpretation of the thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behaviour of argillaceous rocks is still among the most challenging of problems in geomechanical engineering. The comprehensive review of this wide variety of this class of materials has shown how different geotechnical parameters play various roles in the assessment of deep geological repository of high- and intermediate-level long-lived radioactive waste. After considering the wide variety of this class of materials, some common behaviour features are sought concerning compressibility, structure development, brittleness and progressive failure, anisotropy, effects of discontinuities, hydraulic properties. A comprehensive literature review on laboratory experimental results of the temperature effect on thermal, hydrolic and mechanical behaviour of argillaceous rocks is also caried out. Those features are examined in the context of appropriate behaviour frameworks developed for this type of materials. Two themes are then selected for special consideration: brittleness and progressive failure and the response of argillaceous weak rocks to deep underground excavations and in situ heating tests. For the second topic, particular attention is given to field results obtained in deep underground laboratories for nuclear waste disposal. The paper concludes with a summary of the main points.

show abstract

“…Evolution of temperature at different distances of the heater axis. Experiment HE-D (Gens et al 2017).…”

Section: Thermal Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 65. Evolution of temperature and pore pressure in borehole D3 during the HE-D test (Gens et al 2017).…”

Section: Pore Pressuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of Argillaceous hard soils - weak rocks

Tourchi¹

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The FE experiment is the latest step in a series of investigations starting with small-scale laboratory tests (Villar et al 2012), followed by mid-scale in situ heater experiments at the Mont Terri rock laboratory, such as the HE-D experiment (Gens et al 2007(Gens et al , 2017 and the HE-E experiment (Gaus et al 2014). With regard to its size and relevance, the FE experiment is comparable to large-scale heater experiments in other rock laboratories, such as the 'Full-scale Engineered Barrier Experiment' (FEBEX) at the Grimsel Test Site in Switzerland (Lanyon and Gaus 2013), the 'prototype repository' experiment at the Ä SPÖ rock laboratory in Sweden (Johannesson et al 2004), the PRACLAY experiment in Boom Clay at the HADES rock laboratory in Belgium (Bernier et al 2007) and the ALC experiment in Callovo-Oxfordian Clay at ANDRA's rock laboratory in France (Gugala 2015).…”

Section: Experimental Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of the full-scale emplacement (FE) experiment at the Mont Terri rock laboratory

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Opalinus Clay is currently being assessed as the host rock for a deep geological repository for high-level and low-and intermediate-level radioactive wastes in Switzerland. Within this framework, the 'Full-Scale Emplacement' (FE) experiment was initiated at the Mont Terri rock laboratory close to the small town of St-Ursanne in Switzerland. The FE experiment simulates, as realistically as possible, the construction, waste emplacement, backfilling and early post-closure evolution of a spent fuel/ vitrified high-level waste disposal tunnel according to the Swiss repository concept. The main aim of this multiple heater test is the investigation of repository-induced thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupled effects on the host rock at this scale and the validation of existing coupled THM models. For this, several hundred sensors were installed in the rock, the tunnel lining, the bentonite buffer, the heaters and the plug. This paper is structured according to the implementation timeline of the FE experiment. It documents relevant details about the instrumentation, the tunnel construction, the production of the bentonite blocks and the highly compacted 'granulated bentonite mixture' (GBM), the development and construction of the prototype 'backfilling machine' (BFM) and its testing for horizontal GBM emplacement. Finally, the plug construction and the start of all 3 heaters (with a thermal output of 1350 Watt each) in February 2015 are briefly described. In this paper, measurement results representative of the different experimental steps are also presented. Tunnel construction aspects are discussed on the basis of tunnel wall displacements, permeability testing and relative humidity measurements around the tunnel. GBM densities achieved with the BFM in the different off-site mock-up tests and, finally, in the FE tunnel are presented. Finally, in situ thermal conductivity and temperature measurements recorded during the first heating months are presented.

show abstract

“…Moreover, changes in the loading rate on the material also a↵ect the mechanical behavior of the shear layer (Song et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2017;Rattez et al, 2018), depending on its mineralogy content. The e↵ect of thermal and loading rate behavior of geomaterials, especially in clays, has been explored in the fields of fault mechanics (i.e., earthquakes) (Rice, 2006;Chambon et al, 2002;Tesei et al, 2012;Kohli & Zoback, 2013;Veveakis et al, 2010;Alevizos et al, 2014;Veveakis et al, 2014;Poulet et al, 2014), nuclear waste disposal (Hueckel & Baldi, 1990;Hueckel & Borsetto, 1990;Hueckel & Pellegrini, 1991, 1992Del Olmo et al, 1996;Hueckel et al, 2009;Monfared et al, 2014;Gens et al, 2018;Laloui, 2001), and landslides (Vardoulakis, 2002a,b;Veveakis et al, 2007;Ciantia & Hueckel, 2013;Seguí et al, 2020;Goren & Aharonov, 2007), as well as energy applications (Veveakis & Regenauer-Lieb, 2015;Laloui & Cekerevac, 2003;Sari et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fault mechanics and earthquake engineering, the e↵ect of rate sensitivity of the material has been tested to understand the mechanics of the gauge material (Chambon et al, 2002;Tesei et al, 2012;Kohli & Zoback, 2013;Sulem et al, 2011). In nuclear waste disposal, the e↵ect of thermal loading has been an important parameter in studying the material's behavior due to the low permeability of some clays and to understanding how the material responds when is under very high temperatures (Hueckel & Baldi, 1990;Hueckel & Borsetto, 1990;Hueckel & Pellegrini, 1991, 1992Del Olmo et al, 1996;Hueckel et al, 2009;Monfared et al, 2014;Gens et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking thermal and rate behavior with fabric and mineralogy of clayey shear zones: Experimental investigation on the El Forn landslide (Andorra)

Segui¹,

Tauler²,

Hueckel³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Thermal triaxial tests were carried out on remolded material of core samples of the shear zone of a deep-seated landslide, the El Forn landslide (Andorra). With the thermal triaxial tests, we have obtained thermal and rate sensitivi- ties of the material outside and inside the shear band. Moreover, micro-scale tests were carried out, such as XRPD, SEM-EDS, MicroCT, and plasticity index. The results show that the material inside the shear band has higher thermal sensitivity than outside the shear band. These results are related to the material’s fabric, porosity, and plasticity index. The rate sensitivity value is the same for the samples outside and inside the shear band, being able to correlate the rate sensitivity with the mineralogy content of the ma- terial. This study, thus, aims to understand the mechanical behavior of the material within a shear zone by correlating the thermal and rate sensitivity with the microstructure and mineral phases present in the material.

show abstract

Performance of the Opalinus Clay under thermal loading: experimental results from Mont Terri rock laboratory (Switzerland)

Cited by 16 publications

References 6 publications

On the thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of Argillaceous hard soils - weak rocks

On the thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of Argillaceous hard soils - weak rocks

Implementation of the full-scale emplacement (FE) experiment at the Mont Terri rock laboratory

Linking thermal and rate behavior with fabric and mineralogy of clayey shear zones: Experimental investigation on the El Forn landslide (Andorra)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About