Study on crystalline rock aiming at evaluation method of long-term behavior of rock mass, 2 (Joint research)

Fukui, Katsunori*; Hashiba, Kimihiro*; Matsui, Hiroya 

It is important to evaluate the stability of a repository for high-level radioactive waste not only during the design, construction and operation phases, but also during the post-closure period, for time frames likely exceeding several millennia or longer. The rock mass around the tunnels could be deformed through time in response to time dependent behavior. In view of above points, this study has been started as a collaboration study with the University of Tokyo from FY2016. In the FY2017, the creep test of Tage tuff was continuously conducted and reached its twentieth year. The overview of the test was described, and the phenomenological aspects and the mechanisms of the creep of tuff were discussed with comparing the long- and short-term creep tests. The effects of loading rate and water content on rock strength were examined under various water conditions. The variable-compliance-type constitutive model was modified to reproduce those under uniaxial tension.