Coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Experiment at Kamaishi Mine Technical Note 15-99-02, Experimental results

Chijimatsu, Masakazu*; Sugita, Yutaka ; Fujita, Tomoo ; Amemiya, Kiyoshi*

It is an important part of the near field perfformance assessment of nuclear waste disposal to evaluate coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (T-H-M) phenomena, e.g., thermal effects on groundwater flow through rock matrix and water seepage into the buffer material, the generation of swelling pressure of the buffer material, and thermal stresses potentially affecting porosity and fracture apertures of the rock. An in-situ T-H-M experiment named 'Engineered Barrier Experiment' has been conducted at the Kamaishi Mine, of which host rock is granodiorite, in order to establish conceptual models of the coupled T-H-M processes and to build confidence in mathematical models and computer codes. In 1995, fourteen boreholes were excavated in order to install the various sensors. After the hydraulic tests, mechanical tests were carried out to obtain the rock properties. After that, a test pit, 1.7m in diameter and 5.0m in depth, was excavated. During the excavation, the change of pore pressure, displacement and temperature of rock mass were measured. In 1996, the buffer material and heater were set up in the test pit, and then coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical test was started. The duration of heating phase was 250 days and that of cooling phase was 180 days. The heater surface was controlled to be 100C during heating phase. Measurment, was carried out by a number pf sensors installed in both buffer and rock mass during the test. The field experiment leads to a better understanding of the behavior of the coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical phenomena in the near field.