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Thermo-mechanical modelling of spalling around the deposition boreholes in an underground nuclear waste repository during its thermal phase
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom, Exhibition Road.
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom, Exhibition Road.
KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Civil and Architectural Engineering, Soil and Rock Mechanics. Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB), Solna, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4399-9534
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom, Exhibition Road.
2024 (English)In: International Journal of Rock Mechanics And Mining Sciences, ISSN 1365-1609, E-ISSN 1873-4545, Vol. 183, article id 105898Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This paper presents a three-dimensional numerical analysis of multiple fracture growth leading to the development of excavation disturbed zones and spalling around deposition boreholes in a geological disposal facility. The development of fracture patterns is simulated with the Imperial College Geomechanics Toolkit, a finite-element based simulator that can model the simultaneous nucleation, growth, and coalescence of multiple fractures in quasi-brittle rock. In these simulations, fractures develop due to the stress concentrations around the borehole wall, caused by the local in situ stresses, and due to the thermal stresses caused by the radioactive decay of the waste. Fracture patterns, and the extent of the spalled zone, are computed after the borehole drilling, heating, and cooling stages, at the Forsmark repository site in Sweden. The effect of temperature on the nucleation and growth of spalling fractures, as well as on the reactivation of pre-existing fractures, is assessed qualitatively, by comparing fracture patterns, and quantitatively, in terms of the maximum spalling depth, width, and increase in the total fractured surface area. Overall, the simulations presented herein indicate that thermal spalling will increase the depths (away from the borehole) and angular widths of the spalled zone, but is not likely to lead to major increases in fracture aperture, and concomitant increases in hydraulic transmissivity and permeability of the spalled zone, above that which has already been caused by mechanical spalling.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2024. Vol. 183, article id 105898
Keywords [en]
Finite element, Fracture growth, Geological disposal facility, Numerical modelling, Spalling, Thermo-mechanical
National Category
Earth Observation
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-353420DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrmms.2024.105898ISI: 001317111200001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85203528957OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-353420DiVA, id: diva2:1899093
Note

QC 20240919

Available from: 2024-09-19 Created: 2024-09-19 Last updated: 2025-02-17Bibliographically approved

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