Modelling the Mont Terri HE-D experiment for the Thermal–Hydraulic–Mechanical response of a bedded argillaceous formation to heating

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • B. Garitte - , Nationale Genossenschaft für die Lagerung radioaktiver Abfälle (Nagra) (Author)
  • T. S. Nguyen - , Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (Author)
  • J. D. Barnichon - , Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire (Author)
  • B. J. Graupner - , Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (Author)
  • C. Lee - , Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (Author)
  • K. Maekawa - , Japan Atomic Energy Agency (Author)
  • C. Manepally - , Southwest Research Institute (Author)
  • G. Ofoegbu - , Southwest Research Institute (Author)
  • B. Dasgupta - , Southwest Research Institute (Author)
  • R. Fedors - , United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Author)
  • P. Z. Pan - , CAS - Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • X. T. Feng - , CAS - Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • J. Rutqvist - , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Author)
  • F. Chen - , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Author)
  • Jens Birkholzer - , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Author)
  • Q. Wang - , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Author)
  • O. Kolditz - , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Author)
  • H. Shao - , Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (Author)

Abstract

Coupled thermal–hydrological–mechanical (THM) processes in the near field of deep geological repositories can influence several safety features of the engineered and geological barriers. Among those features are: the possibility of damage in the host rock, the time for re-saturation of the bentonite, and the perturbations in the hydraulic regime in both the rock and engineered seals. Within the international cooperative code-validation project DECOVALEX-2015, eight research teams developed models to simulate an in situ heater experiment, called HE-D, in Opalinus Clay at the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory in Switzerland. The models were developed from the theory of poroelasticity in order to simulate the coupled THM processes that prevailed during the experiment and thereby to characterize the in situ THM properties of Opalinus Clay. The modelling results for the evolution of temperature, pore water pressure, and deformation at different points are consistent among the research teams and compare favourably with the experimental data in terms of trends and absolute values. The models were able to reproduce the main physical processes of the experiment. In particular, most teams simulated temperature and thermally induced pore water pressure well, including spatial variations caused by inherent anisotropy due to bedding.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number345
JournalEnvironmental earth sciences
Volume76
Issue number9
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2017
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

Keywords

  • Anisotropy, Argillacceous sedimentary rock, Coupled THM processes, Geological disposal