Joint spacing criterion for equivalent continuum model
- Woodward Clyde Federal Services, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
Currently, the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project is investigating the feasibility of the disposal of high-level radioactive waste in the unsaturated Topopah Spring formation. The Topopah Spring formation is a heavily fractured, predominantly vertically jointed, welded tuff, and the potential disposal area is cut by the Ghost Dance fault and bounded by several other fault structures. The joints in the tuff and the faults may have an impact on the emplacement drift or borehole stability, as well as on the movement of fluids through the rock mass. The design of the repository drifts and layout, the waste emplacement scheme, and the thermomechanical performance of the rock mass will be analyzed using various numerical models. These models may be based on different assumptions regarding the representation of the fracture behavior under given applied stresses, and will range from discrete models where individual mechanically active fractures are treated distinctly, to continuum models where the joint behavior is smeared over a representative volume. There is always the question of applicability of a model with respect to a given material domain to be analyzed.
- OSTI ID:
- 127080
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9504179--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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