Numerical simulation of coupled THM behaviour of full-scale EBS in backfilled experimental gallery in the Horonobe URL
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Bentonite-based engineered barrier system (EBS) is a key component of many repository designs for the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Given the complexity and interaction of the phenomena affecting the barrier system, coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) numerical analyses are a potentially useful tool for a better understanding of their behaviour. In this context, a Task (the Horonobe EBS experiment) was undertaken to study, using numerical analyses, the thermo-hydro-mechanical (and thermo-hydro) interactions in bentonite based engineered barriers within the international cooperative project DECOVALEX 2023. One full-scale in-situ experiment and four laboratory experiments, largely complementary, were selected for modelling. The Horonobe EBS experiment is a temperature-controlled non-isothermal experiment combined with artificial groundwater injection. The Horonobe EBS experiment consists of the heating and cooling phases. Six research teams performed the THM or TH (depended on research team approach) numerical analyses using a variety of computer codes, formulations and constitutive laws. For each experiment, the basic features of the analyses are described and the comparison between calculations and laboratory experiments and field observations are presented and discussed. • Full-scale engineered barrier system experiment performed in the underground research laboratory (Horonobe URL in Japan) • Numerical simulations of coupled thermos-hydro-mechanical processes in bentonite material performed by six research teams • Identification of parameters for simulation using laboratory experiment simulation • Examination of various approaches for numerical simulation such as simplification of boundary conditions
Authors: Yutaka Sugita, Hirokazu Ohno, Steffen Beese, Pengzhi Pan, Minseop Kim, Changsoo Lee, Carlos Jove-Colon, Carlos M. Lopez, Suu-yan Liang
Institutions: Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Sandia National Laboratories
Language: English
Topic: Rock Mechanics and Modeling
Subfield: Mechanics of Materials
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,050
OpenAlex ID: W4409026443