Benoit Garitte

Amberg (Czechia)

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Antonio Gens

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Jean Vaunat

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Gilles Armand

Agence Nationale pour la Gestion des Déchets Radioactifs

Tim Vietor

National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Switzerland)

S. Olivella

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Klaus Wieczorek

Gesellschaft für Anlagen und Reaktorsicherheit

Thomas Trick

CryptoExperts (France)

Herwig Müller

National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Switzerland)

Juan Carlos Mayor

Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos

Alain Millard

Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives

Cooperative Institutions

National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Switzerland)

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Quintessa (United Kingdom)

Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research

University of Liège

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

ETH Zurich

TU Dresden

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Predictive modelling of an excavation test in indurated clay

Benoit Garitte Jean Vaunat Antonio Gens Tim Vietor

This Abstract presents the predictive hydromechanical (HM) modelling of an excavation performed in Opalinus clay in the Mont Terri underground laboratory (Figure 1). Niche 2 was excavated in the shaly facies of Opalinus clay from gallery 08. The area surrounding the gallery was intensively instrumented. The geology of Mont Terri is described in Thury and Bosssart (1999) and the parameters used in the analsysis were taken from Bock (2009). The stress state is derived from Martin and Lanyion (2003). Gallery 08 is horseshoe shaped and has a mean radius of 2.25m. It was excavated with a road header at a mean velocity of 1m/day starting on January 30th 2008 (Gallery chainage 43.8) and ending on June 30th 2008 (Gallery chainage 123.8) with a stop from March 18th to April 24th to instrument the area of niche 2. Niche 2 was excavated by successive blastings 1.3m deep until reaching a distance of 24m from the gallery 08 wall. Advance was continuous from October 13th to November 7th with the exception of three stops of 3, 5 and 4 days. The niche has an average diameter of 4.5m and has a slight upward slope of 0.98%. The excavation of gallery 08 from chainage 43.8 to chainage 123.8 and of the niche was simulated by relaxing the normal total stress and water pressure from the value before excavation to 0. The gallery advance rate was simulated in an approximate manner by applying successively the excavation procedure to 9m long gallery sections. In the case of the niche, the blasting scheme and the application of the shotcrete was closely reproduced. The three dimensional geometry used in the simulation is shown in Figure 1.

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Comparative study of three in-situ heating test of anisotropic media: the HE-D, TER and ATLAS experiments

Benoit Garitte X. Sillen Xiangling Li Gilles Armand Jean Vaunat

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Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Modelling of Hollow Cylinder Laboratory Experiments on Boom Clay

Arnaud Dizier Frédéric Collin Benoit Garitte Bertrand François Guangjing Chen

The aim of the TIMODAZ project is to investigate the effect of thermal changes on the excavation damaged zone (EDZ) around nuclear deep disposals in clay-based geological formations. In the framework of WP5.2 of this project, it is intended to develop constitutive models and numerical tools reproducing the thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) evolution of the host rocks at real time and repository scale. Predictive THM modelling of on-going laboratory experiments has been realised by several partners of the project to compare different finite element codes and to provide a first insight into the THM responses of the tested materials. The experiment consists of a hollow cylinder of clayey material, which is subjected to THM loadings. The modelling of this experiment is realised with different constitutive laws (thermo-elasticity, elastic-perfectly plastic laws, hardening plasticity and/or thermo-plasticity). Results show that the choice of the THM model is a key issue for the prediction of the process implied in this modelling. For the current objective of this work, the assumption of isotropy was found to be fair enough. However, preliminary experimental results got in WP3 of the present project point out a certain mechanical anisotropy of the tested clay. Consequently, further development of constitutive laws considering mechanical anisotropy will probably be necessary in the future.

Hardening (computing)

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Excavation Damage Zone at High Depths: Field Cases and Coupled Analysis

Springer series in geomechanics and geoengineering (2012)

Jean Vaunat Antonio Gens Benoit Garitte

10.1007/978-3-642-32814-5_50

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Thermal Conductivity of Argillaceous Rocks: Determination Methodology Using In Situ Heating Tests

Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (2012)

Benoit Garitte Antonio Gens Jean Vaunat Gilles Armand

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10.1007/s00603-012-0335-x

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The influence of different supports on the properties of the excavation damaged zone along the FE tunnel in the Mont Terri Underground Rock Laboratory

Geological Society London Special Publications (2016)

Hua Shao Benjamin Paul Xuerui Wang Jürgen Hesser Jens Becker

Abstract Permeability and its spatial distribution around an underground opening in a geological formation are important for the interpretation of thermal, hydraulic and mechanical findings from an in situ demonstration experiment. Within the site characterization programme of the Full-scale Emplacement (FE) experiment, permeability measurements with nitrogen gas have been conducted from six short boreholes. Four of them were located in a section without shotcrete support and two in a section with a three-layer-shotcrete lining. As expected, the extension of the zone with an increased permeability was larger (up to 2 m) in the area without shotcrete support than that in the section with a shotcrete lining (less than 1.5 m). The water content in the sections with or without shotcrete linings also showed different behaviour over long-term monitoring. The water content in the deep borehole section in the area with a shotcrete lining stayed almost constant, while the water content in the deep borehole section in the area without shotcrete tended to continuously decrease. In general, the water content close to the tunnel is influenced by the seasonal change in the temperature and relative humidity within the tunnel, especially in the section without a shotcrete lining. Analysis of the abovementioned observations/findings was done by performing FEM (finite-element method) calculations with OpenGeoSys (OGS) software using a coupled hydromechanical model. Owing to the high stiffness of shotcrete, the displacement in the section with a shotcrete lining was smaller. This, in turn, results in a smaller extension in the excavation damaged zone (EDZ). However, shotcrete has a relatively high suction capacity and high initial water content: thus, the interface between the shotcrete and the Opalinus Clay becomes more saturated. Therefore, the excavation-induced fractures in the Opalinus Clay close to the shotcrete can be sealed by swelling. The water content decreases continuously, as a result of desaturation occurring during the operational phase and the associated change in porewater pressure.

10.1144/sp443.18

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Modelling a heater experiment for radioactive waste disposal

Environmental Geotechnics (2017)

T.S. Nguyen Zhenze Li Benoit Garitte Jean-Dominique Barnichon

This paper presents the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s modelling of coupled thermal, hydraulic and mechanical (THM) processes and their influence on the performance of the engineered barrier system (EBS) and the host rock. The coupled THM processes were monitored during a heater experiment called HE-E, performed in an Opalinus Clay formation at the Mont Terri Rock Laboratory in Switzerland. The HE-E experimental set-up consisted of two EBS sections emplaced in an existing tunnel of the Underground Rock Laboratory. This paper focuses on the model development, parametric analysis, model calibration and verification with the field test data. The influence of THM processes on the EBS and host rock performance and the implications on the design and safety assessment of geological disposal repository systems are discussed.

Thermal hydraulics

10.1680/jenge.15.00060

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

Swiss Journal of Geosciences (2017)

Herwig Müller Benoit Garitte Tobias Vogt Sven P. K. Köhler Toshihiro Sakaki

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.

Bentonite

High-level waste

Full scale

10.1007/s00015-016-0251-2

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Thermo-hydro-mechanical response of an argillaceous rock: experimental results and modelling

Benoit Garitte Jean Vaunat Antonio Gens

B. Garitte*, Jean Vaunat† and Antonio Gens† * International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE) Universidad Politecnica de Cataluna Campus Norte UPC, 08034 Barcelona, Spain e-mail: benoit.garitte@upc.edu † Department of Geotechnical Engineering and Geosciences Universidad Politecnica de Cataluna Campus Norte UPC, 08034 Barcelona, Spain email: jean.vaunat@upc.edu email : antonio.gens@upc.edu

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Applications of multiphysical geomechanics in underground nuclear waste storage

European Journal of Environmental and Civil engineering (2009)

Antonio Gens Benoit Garitte S. Olivella Jean Vaunat

ABSTRACT ABSTRACT Deep geological disposal in suitable host rocks is the favoured strategy for the storage and disposal of heat-emitting high level nuclear waste. A rational design of repositories requires a good understanding of the interacting thermo-hydro-mechanical phenomena that occur in the engineered barrier and adjacent rock. To this end, a multiphysical formulation is described that allows the performance of coupled THM analyses capable of reproducing observed phenomena. The formulation and computer code is applied to the simulation of two large scale tests: a mine-by test involving the excavation of a shaft in an argillaceous rock and a large-scale high- temperature heating test in fractured rock. RÉSUMÉ La stratégie préconisée actuellement pour le stockage et le dépôt de déchets de haute radioactivité émettant de la chaleur est de les disposer dans des couches géologiques profondes appropriées. Un design rationnel des sites de stockage exige une bonne compréhension des phénomènes thermo-hydro-mécaniques interagissant au niveau de la barrière ouvragée et de la roche hôte proche. Pour y parvenir, on décrit une formulation multiphysique, permettant de réaliser des analyses couplées THM et capable de reproduire les phénomènes observés. La formulation est appliquée à la simulation de deux tests à échelle réelle: un essai dit mine-by-test concernant l'excavation d'un puits dans une roche argileuse et un test de chauffage à haute température dans une roche fracturée. KEYWORDS: coupled analysisTHM formulationnuclear waste disposalargillaceous rockfractured rockMOTS-CLÉS: analyse coupléeformulation THMsite de stockage de déchets radioactifroche argileuseroche fracturée

Geomechanics

Underground storage

10.1080/19648189.2009.9693162

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Citations (13)