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Thermal Volume Changes and Creep in the Callovo-Oxfordian Claystone

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Abstract

The Callovo-Oxfordian (COx) claystone is considered as a potential host rock for high-level radioactive waste disposal at great depth in France. Given the exothermic nature of radioactive wastes, a temperature elevation planned to be smaller than 100 °C will affect the host rock around the disposal cells. To gain better understanding of the thermal volumetric response of the COx claystone, a new thermal isotropic compression cell was developed with particular attention devoted to monitoring axial and radial strains. To do so, a high-precision LVDTs system ensuring direct contact between the LVDT stem and the claystone sample through the membrane was developed. A short drainage length (10 mm) was also ensured so as to allow full saturation of the sample under stress conditions close to in situ, and fully drained conditions during compression. High-precision strain monitoring allowed to observe a volumetric creep under stress conditions close to in situ. A drained heating test under constant stress carried out afterwards up to 80 °C exhibited a thermoelastic expansion up to a temperature of 48 °C, followed by thermoplastic contraction at higher temperature. Creep volume changes, that appeared to be enhanced by temperature, were modelled by using a simple Kelvin–Voigt model, so as to estimate the instantaneous response of the COx claystone and to determine its thermal expansion coefficient. The temperature at which the transition between thermal expansion and contraction appeared is close to the maximum burial temperature of the Callovo-Oxfordian claystone, estimated at 50 °C. This is in agreement with what has been already observed on the Opalinus Clay by Monfared et al. (2012) that was interpreted as a thermal hardening phenomenon, showing that the material kept the memory of the highest temperature supported during its geological history.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Andra (the French agency for the management of radioactive wastes) and Ecole des Ponts ParisTech for the support of the PhD thesis of the first author and for fruitful discussions. Andra is also thanked for providing the specimens tested in this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Navier/CERMES, Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech, 6-8 av. B. Pascal, 77455, Marne la Vallée, France

    Malik Belmokhtar, Pierre Delage & Siavash Ghabezloo

  2. Andra, Bure, France

    Nathalie Conil

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  1. Malik Belmokhtar
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  2. Pierre Delage
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  3. Siavash Ghabezloo
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  4. Nathalie Conil
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Correspondence to Malik Belmokhtar.

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Belmokhtar, M., Delage, P., Ghabezloo, S. et al. Thermal Volume Changes and Creep in the Callovo-Oxfordian Claystone. Rock Mech Rock Eng 50, 2297–2309 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-017-1238-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-017-1238-7

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