A Research program for numerical experiments on coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical and chemical processes

Ito, Akira; Kawakami, Susumu; Yui, Mikazu

In a repository for high-level radioactive waste, coupled thermo -hydro -mechanical and chemical (THMC) processes will ocurr, involving the interactive processes between radioactive decay heat from the vitrified waste, infiltration of groundwater, swelling pressure generation and chemical evolution of the buffer material and porewater chemistry. In this program, numerical experiment system for the coupled THMC processes will be developed in order to predict the long-term performance of the near-field (engineered barrier and host rock) for various geological environments. The simulation code development has been started in FY 2001 and three development steps are planned, because (1)development will be continued for some years, (2)feasibility of numerical experiment have to be confirmed by using existing tools. This report presents the following items of the simulation code development for the coupled THMC processes. (1)First step of the simulation code development (2)Mass transport passways in compacted bentonite (3)Parallelization of the simulation code