Development and field placement of an expansive salt-saturated concrete (ESC) for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Final report
An expansive salt-saturated concrete (ESC) was proportioned for placement underground in halite rock at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site, near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Requirements for this concrete were: (1) to be chemically compatible with the host rock; (2) to remain pumpable for four hours: (3) to give net volume increase beginning at an early age, and continuing until creep closure of the salt assures sealing at the rock interface; and (4) to cure to a solid with extremely low permeability and fairly high strength. ESC was proportioned and placed underground at the WIPP in two successful field tests during FY 85 and FY 86. This report is the first of three reports about this concrete. It describes (1) the development of ESC in the laboratory, and (2) the mixture properties prior to final set. It summarizes field-placement activities in July 1985 and February 1986, when ESC was placed in test holes underground at the WIPP for two series of Small-Scale Seal Performance Tests (SSSPT). It gives data from tests of expansive behavior of the concrete at early ages and under simulated repository conditions. The second report will describe expansive behavior of ESC relative to several variables that could have an impact on its field performance and long-term stability, as determined during laboratory testing. It also will discuss possible explanations of the rather extraordinary suite of properties exhibited by ESC, as controlled by its chemical composition. The third report will describe laboratory studies of the mechanism of set retardation in a grout derived from this concrete.
- Research Organization:
- Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS (USA). Structures Lab.
- OSTI ID:
- 6665991
- Report Number(s):
- AD-A-175199/9/XAB; WES/TR/SL-86-36
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CONCRETES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
EMPLACEMENT
WIPP
CLOSURES
CREEP
FIELD TESTS
INTERFACES
MIXTURES
NEW MEXICO
PERMEABILITY
PILOT PLANTS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
SATURATION
STABILITY
VOLUME
BUILDING MATERIALS
DISPERSIONS
FEDERAL REGION VI
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
TESTING
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage