Study of coupled thermomechanical, thermohydrological and hydromechanical processes associated with a nuclear waste repository in a fractured rock medium
It has been recognized that coupled thermomechanical, thermohydrologic, and hydromechanical processes may play an important role in the behavior of the geologic formation around a nuclear waste repository. A numerical code, ROCMAS, was recently developed at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory to calculate coupled heat transfer, fluid flow, and mechanical deformation in a fractured porous medium. Three scoping studies using this model are described in this paper, with the following preliminary conclusions. The thermomechanical simulations of a fractured rock mass show that the fractures can absorb the thermally induced rock deformations, thus possibly explaining the observed behavior of the granite rocks in the experiment at Stripa, Sweden. The variations in fracture aperture profiles in the hydromechanical simulations indicate that the rigid fracture assumptions used in most uncoupled studies may not be a good representation of fracture behavior. The thermohydromechanical model study reveals that perturbations induced by a heater may close a fracture near the heater borehole and stop the water inflow to the borehole.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 5962027
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-821107-Pt.1; TRN: 83-018872
- Journal Information:
- Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc.; (United States), Vol. 15; Conference: 6. international symposium on the scientific basis for radioactive waste management (Materials Research Society), Boston, MA, USA, 1 Nov 1982
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
58 GEOSCIENCES
FRACTURED RESERVOIRS
DEFORMATION
FLUID FLOW
HEAT TRANSFER
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
FRACTURES
POROUS MATERIALS
ENERGY TRANSFER
FAILURES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
580300 - Mineralogy
Petrology
& Rock Mechanics- (-1989)