• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.23-41
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• 2023

Coupled thermo-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) processes are essential for the long-term performance of deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. In this study, a numerical sensitivity analysis was performed to analyze the effect of rock properties on THM responses after the execution of the heater test at the Kamaishi mine in Japan. The TOUGH-FLAC simulator was applied for the numerical simulation assuming a continuum model for coupled THM analysis. The rock properties included in the sensitivity study were the Young's modulus, permeability, thermal conductivity, and thermal expansion coefficients of crystalline rock, rock salt, and clay. The responses, i.e., temperature, water content, displacement, and stress, were measured at monitoring points in the buffer and near-field rock mass during the simulations. The thermal conductivity had an overarching impact on THM responses. The influence of Young's modulus was evident in the mechanical behavior, whereas that of permeability was noticed through the change in the temperature and water content. The difference in the THM responses of the three rock type models implies the importance of the appropriate characterization of rock mass properties with regard to the performance assessment of the deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.808-812
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• 2010

A great deal of attention is focused on coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) behavior of multiphase porous media in diverse geo-mechanical and geo-environmental areas. This paper presents general governing equations for coupled THM processes in unsaturated porous media. Coupled partial differential equations are derived from 3 mass balances equations (solid, water, and air), energy balance equation, and force equilibrium equation. Finite element code is developed from the Galerkin formulation and time integration of these governing equations for 4 main variables (displacement $\underline{u}$, gas pressure $P_g$, liquid pressure $P_l$), and temperature T). The code is validated with theoretical solutions for linear material with simple boundary conditions.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.242-255
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• 2020

The numerical simulations of Heater Experiment-D (HE-D) at the Mont Terri rock laboratory in Switzerland were performed to investigate an applicability of FLAC3D to reproduce the coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behaviour in Opalinus Clay, as part of the DECOVLEX-2015 project Task B. To investigate the reliability of numerical simulations of the coupled behaviour using FLAC3D code, the simulation results were compared with the observations from the in-situ experiment, such as temperature at 16 sensors, pore pressure at 6 sensors, and strain at 22 measurement points. An anisotropic heat conduction model, fluid flow model, and transversely isotropic elastic model in FLAC3D successfully represented the coupled thermo-hydraulic behaviour in terms of evolution for temperature and pore pressure, however, performance of the models for mechanical behavior is not satisfactory compared with the measured strain.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.446-461
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• 2020

Numerical simulations of CIEMAT column test in Spain are performed to investigate the coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behavior of MX80 bentonite pellets using TOUGH2-FLAC3D. The heater power and injection pressure of water in the numerical simulations are identical to those in the laboratory test. To investigate the applicability of the thermo-hydraulic (TH) model used in TOUGH2 code to prediction of the coupled TH behavior, the simulation results are compared with the observations of temperature and relative humidity with time. The tendencies of the coupled behavior observed in the test are well represented by the numerical models and the simulator in terms of temperature and relative humidity evolutions. Moreover, the performance of the models for the reproduction and prediction of the coupled TH behavior is globally satisfactory compared with the observations. However, the calculated stress change is relatively small and slow due to the limitations of the simple elastic and swelling pressure model used in numerical simulations. It seems that the two models are insufficient to realistically reproduce the complex coupled THM behavior in the bentonite pellets.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.610-622
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• 2021

The DECOVALEX project is one of the representative international cooperative projects to enhance the understanding of the complex Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical(THMC) coupled behavior in the high-level radioactive waste disposal system based on the numerical simulation. DECOVALEX-2023 is the current phase consisting of 7 tasks, and Task C aims to model the THM coupled behavior in the disposal system based on the Full-scale Emplacement (FE) experiment at the Mont-Terri underground rock laboratory. This study performs the numerical simulation based on the OGS-FLAC developed for the current study. In the numerical model, we emplaced the heater with constant power horizontally based on the FE experiment and monitored the pressure development, temperature increase, and mechanical deformation at the specific monitoring points. We monitored the capillary pressure as the primary effect inducing the flow in the buffer system, and thermal stress and pressurization were dominant in the surrounding rocks' area. The results will also be compared and validated with the other participating groups and the experimental data further.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.55-69
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• 2011

The importance of unsaturated state in various geo-engineering problems has led to the advance of mechanical constitutive model emulating behavior of unsaturated soils in response to thermo-hydro-mechanical loading. Elasto-plastic mechanical constitutive model for unsaturated soil is formulated based on Bishop's effective stress. Effective stress and temperature are main variables in constitutive equation, and incremental formulation of constitutive relationship is derived to compute stress update and stiffness tensor. Numerical simulations involving coupled THM processes are conducted to discuss numerical stability and applicability of developed constitutive model: one-dimensional test, tri-axial compression test, and clay-buffering at high level radioactive waste disposal. Numerical results demonstrated that developed model can predict very complex behavior of coupled THM phenomena and is applicable to geo-engineering problems under various environmental conditions, as well as interpret typical behavior of unsaturated soils.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.75-83
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• 2011

Emerging issues related with fully coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) behavior of unsaturated soil demand the development of a numerical tool in diverse geo-mechanical and geo-environmental areas. This paper presents general governing equations for coupled THM processes in unsaturated porous media. Coupled partial differential equations are derived from three mass balances equations (solid, water, and air), energy balance equation, and force equilibrium equation. With Galerkin formulation and time integration of these governing equations, finite element code is developed to find nonlinear solution of four main variables (displacement-u, gas pressure-$P_g$), liquid pressure-$P_1$), and temperature-T) using Newton's iterative scheme. Three cases of numerical simulations are conducted and discussed: one-dimensional drainage experiments (u-$P_g-P_1$), thermal consolidation (u-$P_1$-T), and effect of pile on surrounding soil due to surface temperature variation (u-$P_1$-T).

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.38-51
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• 2019

Barcelona Basic Model (BBM) can describe not only swelling owing to decrease in effective stress, but also wetting-induced swelling due to decrease in suction. And the BBM can also consider increase in cohesion and apparent preconsolidation stress with suction, and decrease in the apparent preconsolidation stress with temperature. Therefore, the BBM is widely used all over the world to predict and to analyze coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of bentonite which is considered as buffer materials at the engineered barrier system in the high-level radioactive waste disposal system. However, the BBM is not well known in Korea, so this paper introduce the BBM to Korean rock engineers and geotechnical engineers. In this study, Modified Cam Clay (MCC) model is introduced before all, because the BBM was first developed as an extension of the MCC model to unsaturated soil conditions. Then, the thermo-elasto-plastic version of the BBM is described in detail.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.363-373
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• 2018

The evaluation of Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) coupling behavior is important for the development of underground space for various purposes. For a high-level radioactive waste repository excavated in a deep underground rock mass, the accurate prediction of the complex THM behavior is essential for the long-term safety and stability assessment. In order to develop reliable THM analysis techniques effectively, an international cooperation project, Development of Coupled models and their Validation against Experiments (DECOVALEX), was carried out. In DECOVALEX-2015 Task B2, the in situ THM experiment that was conducted at Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory(URL) by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), was modeled by the research teams from the participating countries. In this study, a THM coupling technique that combined TOUGH2 and FLAC3D was developed and applied to the THM analysis for the in situ experiment, in which rock, buffer, backfill, sand, and heater were installed. With the assistance of an artificial neural network, the boundary conditions for the experiment could be adequately implemented in the modeling. The thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical results from the modeling were compared with the measurements from the in situ THM experiment. The predicted buffer temperature from the THM modelling was about $10^{\circ}C$ higher than measurement near by the overpack. At the other locations far from the overpack, modelling predicted slightly lower temperature than measurement. Even though the magnitude of pressure from the modeling was different from the measurements, the general trends of the variation with time were found to be similar.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.183-202
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• 2019

For design and performance assessment of a high-level radioactive waste (HLW) disposal system, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behavior. However, in previous studies for the Korean Reference HLW Disposal System (KRS), thermal analysis was performed to determine the spacing of disposal tunnels and interval of disposition holes without consideration of the coupled THM behavior. Therefore, in this study, TOUGH2-MP/FLAC3D is used to conduct THM modeling for performance assessment of the Korean Reference HLW Disposal System (KRS). The peak temperature remains below the temperature limit of $100^{\circ}C$ for the whole period. A rapid rise of temperature caused by decay heat occurs in the early years, and then temperature begins to decrease as decay heat from the waste decreases. The peak temperature at the bentonite buffer is around $96.2^{\circ}C$ after about 3 years, and peak temperature at the rockmass is $68.2^{\circ}C$ after about 17 years. Saturation of the bentonite block near the canister decreases in the early stage, because water evaporation occurs owing to temperature increase. Then, saturation of the bentonite buffer and backfill increases because of water intake from the rockmass, and bentonite buffer and backfill are fully saturated after about 266 years. The stress is calculated to investigate the effect of thermal stress and swelling pressure on the mechanical behavior of the rockmass. The calculated stress is compared to a spalling criterion and the Mohr-Coulumb criterion for investigation of potential failure. The stress at the rockmass remains below the spalling strength and Mohr-Coulumb criterion for the whole period. The methodology of using the TOUGH2-MP/FLAC3D simulator can be applied to predict the long-term behavior of the KRS under various conditions; these methods will be useful for the design and performance assessment of alternative concepts such as multi-layer and multi-canister concepts for geological spent fuel repositories.