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In order to evaluate the performance of deep geological disposal of radioactive waste, an underground research laboratory (URL) was constructed by Andra in the Callovo-Oxfordian (COx) claystone formation at the Meuse/Haute-Marne (MHM). The construction of URL induced the excavation damage of host formations, and the ventilation in the galleries desaturated the host formation close to the gallery wall. Moreover, it is expected that the mechanical behaviour of COx claystone is time-dependent. This study presents a constitutive model developed to describe the viscoplastic behaviour of unsaturated and damaged COx claystone. In this model, the unsaturation effect is considered by adopting the Bishop effective stress and the van Genuchten (VG) water retention model. In terms of the viscoplastic behaviour, the nonstationary flow surface (NSFS) theory for unsaturated soils is used with consideration of the coupled effects of strain rate and suction on the yield stress. A progressive hardening law is adopted. Meanwhile, a non-associated flow rule is used, which is similar to that in Barcelona basic model (BBM). In addition, to describe the damage effect induced by suction change and viscoplastic loading, a damage function is defined based on the crack volume proportion. This damage function contains two variables: unsaturated effective stress and viscoplastic volumetric strain, with the related parameters determined based on the mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests. For the model validation, different tests on COx claystone under different loading paths are simulated. Comparisons between experimental and simulated results indicated that the present model is able to well describe the viscoplastic behaviour of damaged COx claystone, including swelling/shrinkage, triaxial extension and compression, and triaxial creep.

Self-sealing of fractures in the indurated Callovo-Oxfordian (COX) and Opalinus (OPA) claystones, which are considered as host rocks for disposal of radioactive waste, was investigated on artificially fractured samples. The samples were extracted from four lithological facies relatively rich in clay mineral, carbonate and quartz, respectively. The self-sealing of fractures was measured by fracture closure, water permeability variation, gas penetration, and recovery of gas-induced pathways. Most of the fractured samples exhibited a dramatic reduction in water permeability to low levels that is close to that of intact rock, depending on their mineralogical composition, fracture intensity, confining stress, and load duration. The self-sealing capacity of the clay-rich samples is higher than that of the carbonate-rich and sandy ones. Significant effects of sample size and fracture intensity were identified. The sealed fractures become gas-tight for certain injection pressures. However, the measured gas breakthrough pressures are still lower than the confining stresses. The gas-induced pathways can recover when contacting water. These important findings imply that fractures in such indurated claystones can effectively recover to hinder water transport but allow gas release under relatively low pressures without compromising the rock integrity.

In the French deep geological disposal for radioactive wastes, compacted bentonite/claystone mixtures have been considered as possible sealing materials. After emplacement in place, such mixtures are hydrated by the site solution as well as the cement solution produced by the degradation of concrete. In this study, the effects of synthetic site solution and cement solution on the hydro-mechanical behaviour of compacted mixtures of claystone and two types of bentonites (MX80 Na-bentonite and Sardinia Ca-bentonite) were investigated by carrying out a series of swelling pressure, hydraulic conductivity and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests. It was found that for the MX80 bentonite/claystone mixture hydrated with synthetic site solution, the swelling capacity was reduced compared to the case with deionised water owing to the transformation of Na-montmorillonite to multi-cation dominant montmorillonite by cation exchanges. For the Sardinia bentonite/claystone mixture, the similar increasing rate of swelling pressure was observed during the crystalline swelling process for different solutions, suggesting insignificant cation exchanges. Additionally, the cations in the synthetic site solution could reduce the thickness of diffuse double layer and the osmotic swelling for both MX80 bentonite/claystone and Sardinia bentonite/claystone mixtures. The large-pore volume increased consequently and enhanced water flow. In the cement solution, the hydroxide could also dissolve the montmorillonite, reducing the swelling pressure, and increase the large-pore volume, facilitating the water flow. Furthermore, the decrease of swelling pressure and the increase of hydraulic conductivity were more significant in the case of low dry density because of more intensive interaction between montmorillonite and hydroxide due to the high permeability.

AbstractArgillaceous rocks have long been selected as privileged host rock candidates for the nuclear waste disposal. For the sake of evaluating the sealing capacity of these natural barriers, one urgent issue is to study the poromechanical properties of them in the long-term gas migration process. As the key parameter of poroelasticity, Biot’s tensor of argillaceous rocks should be firstly studied. In this paper, a series of poromechanical tests was firstly carried out to measure Biot’s tensor components. ‘Non-logical’ values that Biot’s tensor components were larger than unity (1.0) were obtained in the tests. It was then suspected that the process of injecting pore pressure is not a purely poromechanical problem. In order to deeper study about these values, complementary poromechanical tests were handed on two samples with helium and argon or helium and carbon dioxide (CO2), respectively, to confirm the adsorption-swelling phenomenon. The results showed that Biot’s tensor components are obviously affected by the gases used, which is owing to their different adsorption capacities. To evaluate these swelling affect consequences, a series of permeability and triaxial compression tests was performed with different type of gases. The results obtained reveal that gas adsorption-swelling deeply effect the transport and (poro)mechanical properties of argillite.

Self-sealing tests were carried out on cylindrical samples artificially cracked on one-third of the diameter with a perfectly controlled aperture. Water was then injected into the crack. An innovative cell was used that had been developed, the body of which is transparent to X-rays. The sample could fully rotate in the nanotomograph, allowing a 3D reconstruction of images before, during and after tests, a visualization of the evolution of the cracked zone, and a quantification of the variations in crack volume during self-sealing. Permeability measurements were made to quantify the influence of self-sealing on flows. In the present work, two facies of claystone with different CaCO3contents were tested. In the clay-rich sample, an important but not total, reduction in volume was observed, as well as a large decrease in permeability, even if a safe claystone value was not recovered and a two-phase kinematic occurred. On the CaCO3-rich samples, a small volume reduction of the fracture was observed with a small decrease in water permeability. The influence of the mineralogy on the self-sealing capacity of the claystone was demonstrated and a threshold of carbonate content of around 40% was exhibited to discriminate samples able to self-seal from those that were not.

A series of controlled water and gas experiments was undertaken on samples of Callovo-Oxfordian (COx) mudstone using a synthetic fluid and helium gas. Data from this study demonstrate that the advective movement of gas through COx is accompanied by dilation of the original fabric (i.e. the formation of pressure-induced microfissures) at gas pressures significantly below that of the minimum principal stress. Flow occurs through a local network of unstable pathways, the properties of which vary temporally and spatially within the mudstone. The coupling of variables results in the development of significant time-dependent effects affecting many aspects of COx behaviour, from the gas breakthrough time to the control of deformation processes. Variations in gas entry, breakthrough and steady-state pressures may result from the arbitrary nature of the flow pathways and/or microstructural heterogeneity. Under these conditions, the data suggest that gas flow is along pressure-induced preferential pathways, where permeability is a dependent variable related to the number, width and aperture distributions of these features. This has important implications for modelling gas migration through low permeability, clay-rich materials.

This paper describes a field-scale experiment on gas transport mechanisms performed at Andra's Underground Research Laboratory (URL) in a clay rock. The experimental layout consists of two parallel boreholes that are equipped with multiple packer completions isolating three intervals each, which have been continuously monitoring the pore pressure evolution of the clay rock. Nitrogen gas was injected in the middle test interval of one of the boreholes at increasing rates. The entire gas test comprised six periods of controlled gas injections, each followed by a shut-in pressure recovery phase. The experimental data are presented along with their interpretation by means of numerical modelling of two-phase flow of gas and water using different numerical codes and different geometrical approaches that include axisymmetric, half-space and full 3D models. An iterative modelling process was used to show step-by-step how an accurate description of each component of the experiment system produced a satisfactory reproduction of the experimental data and an improved understanding of the relevant phenomena. For instance, the initial volume of remaining water in the test interval, and the presence of a damaged zone around the boreholes, was important for the models to obtain good agreement with the field data.