Summary
In view of the disposal of high level radioactive waste in argillaceous rocks various laboratory experiments have been performed at GRS’s geotechnical laboratory on samples drilled from the Opalinus clay at the Mont Terri Rock Laboratory in Switzerland and the Callovo-Oxfordian argillite at the Bure site in France. This paper focuses on experimental studies of moisture effects on the clay rocks including the relationship between suction and water content, reaction on de- and re-hydration, and the self-sealing potential of the examined materials. The results indicate that the clay rocks react very sensible to a moisture change. Wetting and drying caused significant swelling and shrinking. After re-saturation, highly damaged samples exhibited a very strong reduction in gas-permeability from 10-16–10-17 m2 to 10-21–10-22 m2, indicating a high self-sealing capacity of the studied argillaceous rocks.
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References
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Zhang CL, Rothfuchs T, Moog H et al. (2004) Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical and Geochemical Behaviour of the Callovo-Oxfordian Argillite and the Opalinus Clay. GRS-202, ISBN 3-931995-69-0
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Zhang, CL., Rothfuchs, T. (2007). Moisture Effects on Argillaceous Rocks. In: Schanz, T. (eds) Experimental Unsaturated Soil Mechanics. Springer Proceedings in Physics, vol 112. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-69873-6_32
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-69873-6_32
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-69872-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69873-9
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