Coupled Thermo–Hydro–Mechanical Characteristics of Compacted GMZ Bentonite: Parameters Identification and Validation
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 33, Issue 11
Abstract
Compacted Gaomiaozi (GMZ) bentonite has been considered as the first choice of buffer materials in the deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW) in China. During the long-term lifespan of the repository, the bentonite barriers will simultaneously undergo a coupled thermohydromechanical (T-H-M) process, which induces complex volume changes. In this study, the constitutive model of GMZ bentonite with consideration of THM coupling was established, using the framework of the BExM model along with a thermal volume change model for unsaturated soils. New formulations for the interaction between micro and macrostructures ( and ) and the thermal loading yield surface (TY curve) were adopted. Emphasis was placed on the identification and validation of the material parameters based on a series of experimental results. A comparison between the simulated and measured values show that the improved model with parameters calibrated successfully represents the main features of volume changes observed in the laboratory and during wetting-drying cycles, elastic thermal expansion, and plastic thermal contraction under various suctions and stresses, as well as compressibility under various suctions and temperatures.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41807237 and 42002289), Shanghai Natural Science Foundation (18ZR1440500), National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFE0119500 and 2019YFC1509900), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (22120200187) for their financial support.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 33 • Issue 11 • November 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 12, 2020
Accepted: Mar 10, 2021
Published online: Aug 30, 2021
Published in print: Nov 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jan 30, 2022
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