Permeability measurement for macro-fractured granite using water including clay

Nara, Yoshitaka*; Kato, Masaji*; Sato, Tsutomu*; Kono, Masanori*; Sato, Toshinori  

It is important to understand the long-term migration of radionuclides considering carious rock engineering projects such as the geological disposal of radioactive wastes. The network of fractures and pores in a rock mass can play important roles as the pathway of the fluid flow of rock. Usually groundwater contains fine-grained minerals such as clays. It is probable that the accumulation of the fine-grained minerals occurs in a fracture if the groundwater flows in a fracture in a rock. In this study, we have conducted the permeability measurement using water including clays. Specifically, we used a macro-fractured granite as a rock sample, and investigated the change of the permeability under the flow of the water including clays. It was shown that the hydraulic conductivity decreased with elapsed time.