Pre-compacted elements (disks, tutus) of bentonite/sand mixture are candidate materials for sealing plugs of radioactive waste disposal. Choice of this material is mainly based on its swelling capacity allowing all ...Pre-compacted elements (disks, tutus) of bentonite/sand mixture are candidate materials for sealing plugs of radioactive waste disposal. Choice of this material is mainly based on its swelling capacity allowing all gaps in the system to be sealed, and on its low permeability. When emplaced in the gallery, these elements will start to absorb water from the host rock and swell. Thereby, a swelling pressure will develop in the radial direction against the host rock and in the axial direction against the support structure. In this work, the swelling pressure of a small scale compacted disk of bentonite and sand was experimentally studied in both radial and axial directions. Different swelling kinetics were identified for different dry densities and along different directions. As a rule, the swelling pressure starts increasing quickly, reaches a peak value, decreases a little and finally stabilises. For some dry densities, higher peaks were observed in the radial direction than in the axial direction. The presence of peaks is related to the microstructure change and to the collapse of macro- pores. In parallel to the mechanical tests, microstructure investigation at the sample scale was conducted using microfocus X-ray computed tomography (BCT). Image observation showed a denser structure in the centre and a looser one in the border, which was also confirmed by image analysis. This structure heterogeneity in the radial direction and the occurrence of macro-pores close to the radial boundary of the sample can explain the large peaks observed in the radial swelling pressure evolution. Another interesting result is the higher anisotropy found at lower bentonite dry densities, which was also analysed by means ofμCT observation of a sample at low bentonite dry density after the end of test. It was found that the macro-pores, especially those between sand grains, were not filled by swelled bentonite, which preserved the anisotropic microstructure caused by uniaxial compression due to the absence of microstructure collapse.展开更多
Cracking behaviors of rocks significantly affect the safety and stability of the explorations of underground space and deep resources.To understand deeply the microscopic cracking process and mechanical property of ro...Cracking behaviors of rocks significantly affect the safety and stability of the explorations of underground space and deep resources.To understand deeply the microscopic cracking process and mechanical property of rocks,X-ray micro-computed tomography(X-μCT)is applied to capture the rock microstructures.The digital color difference UNet(DCD-UNet)-based deep learning algorithm with 3D reconstruction is proposed to reconstruct the multiphase heterogeneity microstructure models of rocks.The microscopic cracking and mechanical properties are studied based on the proposed microstructure-based peridynamic model.Results show that the DCD-UNet algorithm is more effective to recognize and to represent the microscopic multiphase heterogeneity of rocks.As damage characteristic index of multiphase rocks increases,transgranular cracks in the same grain phase,transgranular and intergranular cracks of pore-grain phase,intergranular and secondary transgranular cracks and transgranular crack between different grains propagate.The ultimate microscopic failure modes of rocks are mainly controlled by the transgranular cracks-based T1-shear,T3-shear,T1-tension,T2-tension and T3-tension failures,and the intergranular cracks-based T1-tension,T1-shear and T3-shear failures under uniaxial compression.展开更多
文摘Pre-compacted elements (disks, tutus) of bentonite/sand mixture are candidate materials for sealing plugs of radioactive waste disposal. Choice of this material is mainly based on its swelling capacity allowing all gaps in the system to be sealed, and on its low permeability. When emplaced in the gallery, these elements will start to absorb water from the host rock and swell. Thereby, a swelling pressure will develop in the radial direction against the host rock and in the axial direction against the support structure. In this work, the swelling pressure of a small scale compacted disk of bentonite and sand was experimentally studied in both radial and axial directions. Different swelling kinetics were identified for different dry densities and along different directions. As a rule, the swelling pressure starts increasing quickly, reaches a peak value, decreases a little and finally stabilises. For some dry densities, higher peaks were observed in the radial direction than in the axial direction. The presence of peaks is related to the microstructure change and to the collapse of macro- pores. In parallel to the mechanical tests, microstructure investigation at the sample scale was conducted using microfocus X-ray computed tomography (BCT). Image observation showed a denser structure in the centre and a looser one in the border, which was also confirmed by image analysis. This structure heterogeneity in the radial direction and the occurrence of macro-pores close to the radial boundary of the sample can explain the large peaks observed in the radial swelling pressure evolution. Another interesting result is the higher anisotropy found at lower bentonite dry densities, which was also analysed by means ofμCT observation of a sample at low bentonite dry density after the end of test. It was found that the macro-pores, especially those between sand grains, were not filled by swelled bentonite, which preserved the anisotropic microstructure caused by uniaxial compression due to the absence of microstructure collapse.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.42207193,52027814,and 51839009)the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province(No.2022CFB609)+1 种基金the National Center for International Research on Deep Earth Drilling and Resource Development(No.DEDRD-2022-07)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(No.2042021kf0058)。
文摘Cracking behaviors of rocks significantly affect the safety and stability of the explorations of underground space and deep resources.To understand deeply the microscopic cracking process and mechanical property of rocks,X-ray micro-computed tomography(X-μCT)is applied to capture the rock microstructures.The digital color difference UNet(DCD-UNet)-based deep learning algorithm with 3D reconstruction is proposed to reconstruct the multiphase heterogeneity microstructure models of rocks.The microscopic cracking and mechanical properties are studied based on the proposed microstructure-based peridynamic model.Results show that the DCD-UNet algorithm is more effective to recognize and to represent the microscopic multiphase heterogeneity of rocks.As damage characteristic index of multiphase rocks increases,transgranular cracks in the same grain phase,transgranular and intergranular cracks of pore-grain phase,intergranular and secondary transgranular cracks and transgranular crack between different grains propagate.The ultimate microscopic failure modes of rocks are mainly controlled by the transgranular cracks-based T1-shear,T3-shear,T1-tension,T2-tension and T3-tension failures,and the intergranular cracks-based T1-tension,T1-shear and T3-shear failures under uniaxial compression.