Influence aqueous solutions on the mechanical behavior of argillaceous rocks

The hydration of the shale with an aqueous solution induces a swelling deformation which plays an important role in the behaviour of the structures excavated in this type of grounds. This deformation is marked by a three-dimensional and anisotropic character and involves several mechanisms like adsorption, osmosis or capillarity. Several researches were dedicated to swelling and were often much debated due to the complexity of the implied phenomena. The goal of this thesis is therefore to contribute to a better understanding of shale swelling when the rock is confined and hydrated with an aqueous solution. The main part of the work accomplished was related to the Lorraine shale and to the Tournemire shale. To characterize swelling and to identify the main governing parameters, it was necessary to start the issue with an experimental approach. Many apparatus were then developed to carry out tests under various conditions of swelling. In order to facilitate the interpretation of the tests and thereafter the modelling of the behaviour, the experimental procedure adopted consisted of studying first the mechanical aspect and then the chemical aspect of swelling. In the mechanical part, swelling was studied by imposing on the sample a mechanical loading while maintaining during the tests the same aqueous solution. The principal parameters which were studied are the effect of the lateral conditions on axial swelling (impeded strain or constant stress) as well as the influence of the axial stress on radial swelling. The anisotropy of swelling was studied by carrying out, for different orientations of the sample, tests of free swelling, impeded swelling and uniaxial swelling. These various mechanical tests allowed to study the three-dimensional anisotropic swelling in all the conditions and to select the most appropriate test to be used in the second phase of the research. The precise analysis performed to explain the mechanisms behind the swelling of an argillaceous rock when it is in contact of water showed that the mechanical response is ruled mainly by electrochemical phenomena which operate between the solution elements and the clay layers. This important result oriented the research to develop better the role of the chemistry in the behaviour. Swelling was therefore analysed by imposing on the sample a chemical loading while maintaining constant the axial stress. Monovalent and divalent salts which were used with various concentrations are the sodium chloride (NaCl), the potassium chloride (KCl) and the calcium chloride (CaCl2). The foreseen objective was to analyze the effect of the chemical path with decreasing or cyclic concentrations and to highlight the role of the solution normality, the type of salt and the anisotropy on the axial swelling. The experimental results obtained allowed the development of a new rheological model which takes into account the time, the anisotropy, the applied loading and the chemistry of the solution. This model was implemented in a finite element code to simulate simple cases and to prove its validity. (author)