Laboratory testing of cement grouting of fractures in welded tuff

Technical Report · Fri Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/138081· OSTI ID:138081

Sharpe, C J; Daemen, J J

Fractures in the rock mass surrounding a repository and its shafts, access drifts, emplacement rooms and holes, and exploratory or in-situ testing holes, may provide preferential flowpaths for the flow of groundwater or air, potentially containing radionuclides. Such cracks may have to be sealed. The likelihood that extensive or at least local grouting will be required as part of repository sealing has been noted in numerous publications addressing high level waste repository closing. The objective of this work is to determine the effectiveness of fracture sealing (grouting) in welded tuff. Experimental work includes measurement of intact and fracture permeability under various normal stresses and injection pressures. Grout is injected into the fractures. The effectiveness of grouting is evaluated in terms of grout penetration and permeability reduction, compared prior to and after grouting. Analysis of the results include the effect of normal stress, injection pressure, fracture roughness, grout rheology, grout bonding, and the radial extent of grout penetration. Laboratory experiments have been performed on seventeen tuff cylinders with three types of fractures: (1) tension induced cracks, (2) natural fractures, and (3) sawcuts. Prior to grouting, the hydraulic conductivity of the intact rock and of the fractures is measured under a range of normal stresses. The surface topography of the fracture is mapped, and the results are used to determine aperture distributions across the fractures. 72 refs., 76 figs., 25 tabs.

• Research Organization: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States). Div. of Engineering; Arizona Univ., Tucson, AZ (United States). Dept. of Mining and Geological Engineering
• Sponsoring Organization: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 138081
• Report Number(s): NUREG/CR--5683; ON: TI91010667
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR
BONDING
CEMENTS
CRACKS
FILLERS
FRACTURES
GEOMETRY
GROUND WATER
GROUTING
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MAPPING
NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACTS
PERMEABILITY
PUBLIC HEALTH
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOISOTOPES
ROCK MECHANICS
SAFETY
SEALING MATERIALS
SEALS
STRESSES
TESTING
TOPOGRAPHY
TUFF
US DOE
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
Yucca Mountain Project