Time-dependent Hydromechanical Behaviour of Callovo-Oxfordian Claystone by Analytical and Multiscale Numerical Methods

In the context of radioactive waste repository, the time-dependent hydromechanical behaviour of the Callovo-Oxfordian (COx) claystone is investigated to ensure the safety conditions required for long-term repository of radioactive wastes.The first two parts of the study are based on the phenomenological approach carried out directly at the macroscale. Firstly, a quasi-analytical model for the hydromechanical behaviour of a deep spherical cavity excavated in a dilatant poro-viscoplastic rock mass is presented, considering three stages of a simplified life cycle: excavation, free convergence and post-closure. Subsequently, the sensitive and probability analyses are carried out using the finite element code Cast3M to investigate the time-dependent extent of the Excavation Damaged Zone (EDZ) which refers to a region characterized by significant and mainly irreversible changes in geochemical and hydromechanical properties. In the following, a multiscale numerical approach is employed to investigate its creep and damage behaviour under mechanical condition. Firstly, a micromechanics-based model within the finite element square (FE²) framework is developed to model the short-term and long-term behaviours of saturated COx claystone. For the viscous behaviour, two microscale mechanisms have been introduced: the viscoplasticity of the clay aggregates and the viscoelasticity of their contacts. Then, the creep model of COx claystones developed at small scale is applied to model the large-scale creep behaviour at laboratory and gallery scales. From simulation results of laboratory scale, a clear three-stage creep process is reproduced, including the primary creep stage, second creep stage and tertiary creep stage. At the gallery scale, the long-term effect of viscosity on the gallery convergences, the evolution of EDZ, and the long-term drainage and pore pressure around a gallery are investigated. Finally, the above developed double-scale creep model used to simulate saturated cracked medium is extend to partial saturated case to study the interaction between rock and the atmosphere occurs through air circulation within underground galleries. The emphasis is to study the effect of the gallery air ventilation on hydromechanical behaviour of host rock. The model predictions reproduce the drainage and desaturation kinetics of undisturbed and damaged rock. (author)