The shear strength of soil-structure interfaces is relevant to the stability of energy piles. The thermo-hydro-mechanical processes can have a strong effect on the behaviour of interfaces between unsaturated soils and piles. Temperature changes lead to water movement in the soil. The moisture loss or gain in the soil causes drying or wetting. In addition, water movement influences the heat transfer properties of the soil. Temperature and moisture content changes affect the magnitude of soil suction in unsaturated soils. Changes in soil suction alter the strength and deformation characteristics of the soil mass and soil-structure interfaces. Similar to the effects of temperature changes, the mechanical loading and the changes in hydraulic conditions in the ground would cause changes in the void ratio, degree of saturation, suction, strength and deformation characteristics of soil. The interface behaviour under varying thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) conditions is classified as a coupled problem and this is the subject of the present research. In the present investigation, laboratory studies and numerical analyses are carried out to evaluate the THM effect on the behaviour of interfaces between an energy pile material and an unsaturated soil. A 3D interface apparatus (Fakharian and Evgin 1996) has been modified (Fu et al. 2013) to allow the behaviour of an interface to be studied under thermo-mechanical loading conditions. In the present study, the experiments are conducted on soil samples with low degree of saturation and high degree of saturation. It is found that in interface tests using soil samples with low degree of saturation, the adhesion increased due to a positive effect of suction on strength than the negative effect of increasing temperatures. However, in interface tests on soil samples with high degree of saturation, the adhesion decreased with increasing temperatures while the positive effect of suction was not large enough to overcome the negative effect of increasing temperatures. This is a new finding that has not been reported anywhere in the literature. The friction angle for both soil samples (with different degrees of saturation) changed slightly with temperature change. Coupled finite element analyses conducted in the present study provide the following geotechnical information that would be useful for the design of energy piles: (a) Bearing capacity of the pile with and without the effect of temperature, (b) The effect of degree of saturation (or suction) on the strength and deformation characteristics of both the soil and the soil-structure interface, (c) Temperature effects on the amount of pile head movements (up or down), (d) Temperature induced stresses in the pile, (f) Amount of heat that can be stored or extracted from the ground as a function of time. At the initial stages of this study, THM effects on the behaviour of energy piles under saturated and unsaturated conditions are analyzed by using SIGMA/W and VADOSE/W finite element codes of GeoStudio 2012. Although these codes are not multi-physics FE codes, it is possible to use them sequentially to obtain results that will show the trends in pile behaviour. This numerical approach is used first to analyze the behaviour of an energy pile installed partially in unsaturated soil. The moisture content and temperature distributions around a 10 m long, bored pile are calculated using transient analyses. Changes taking place in the stress state along the pile shaft and the bearing capacity of the pile at different temperatures are calculated. In the second part of the numerical analysis of the present study, THM effects on the behaviour of energy piles under saturated and unsaturated conditions are analyzed by using PLAXIS 2D finite element code. PLAXIS is a fully couples finite element code. In order to enhance present understanding of the behaviour of energy piles and do the analysis correctly, a fully coupled analysis involving thermo-hydro-mechanical processes was carried out. Three simulations (mechanical loading only, thermo-mechanical coupling and thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling) are conducted using case studies that are available in the literature. In addition, the behaviour of a generic energy pile, which is installed in a kaolin-sand mixture, is studied by taking into consideration of thermo–hydro-mechanical processes. The coupled analysis provided the distributions of temperature, degree of saturation, suction and heat flux in the analysis domain. Numerical results of the fully-coupled method are compared with the results of sequential method of analysis.

<p>One of many applications of geohydraulic modelling is assessing the suitability of a site to host a nuclear waste repository. This modelling task is complicated by scale-dependent heterogeneity and coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes. The objective here was to develop methods for (i) upscaling flow and transport in fractured media from detailed-scale data and (ii) accounting for THM-induced effects on regional-scale transport. An example field data set was used for demonstration.</p><p>A systematic framework was developed where equivalent properties of flow, transport, and stress-effects were estimated with discrete fracture network (DFN) modelling, at some block scale, and then transferred to a regional-scale stochastic continuum (SC) model. The selected block scale allowed a continuum approximation of flow, but not of transport. Instead, block-scale transport was quantified by transit time distributions and modelled with a particle random walk method at the regional scale.</p><p>An enhanced SC-upscaling approach was developed to reproduce the DFN flow results more simply. This required: (i) weighting of the input well-test data by their conductivity-dependent test volumes and (ii) conductivity-dependent correlation structure. Interestingly, the best-fitting correlation structure resembled the density function of DFN transmissivities. </p><p>Channelized transport, over distances exceeding the block scale, was modelled with a transport persistence length. A linear relationship was found between this persistence length and the macroscale dispersion coefficient, with a slope equal to a representative mean block-scale dispersion coefficient.</p><p>A method was also developed to combine well-test data and rock-mechanical data in estimating fracture transmissivities, and its application was demonstrated.</p><p>Finally, an overall sequential THM analysis was introduced allowing the estimation of the significance of waste-related thermo-mechanical (TM) effects on regional transport; here TM effects are calculated separately and their impact on fracture transmissivities were incorporated into the hybrid framework. For the particular case, their effects on regional-scale transport were small.</p>

In this thesis, fractured rock masses are treated asequivalent continua for large-scale analyses of rockengineering projects. Systematic developments are made for thedetermination of equivalent mechanical and hydraulic propertiesof fractured rock masses using a hybrid discrete fracturenetwork - distinct element method (DFN-DEM) approach. Thedetermined equivalent properties are then used for a far-fieldfinite element analysis of the thermo-mechanical impacts on thestress, deformation and permeability of fractured rockssurrounding a hypothetical geological repository of nuclearwaste. The geological data were extracted from the results ofan extensive site investigation programme at Sellafield, UK,conducted by Nirex UK Ltd. The scale dependencies of the hydraulic and mechanicalproperties were investigated by using multiple realizations ofthe fracture system geometry with increasing model sizes untilproperly defined hydraulic and mechanical representativeelementary volumes (REVs) were reached. The validity of thesecond order permeability tensor and the fourth-ordermechanical compliance tensor were tested for continuum analysesat larger scales. The REV was determined to be around 5 m formechanical and hydraulic data in this study. Analysis of the stress-dependent mechanical and hydraulicproperties shows that the effect of rock stresses is crucial.The elastic moduli increase significantly with the increase ofstress and an empirical equation of stress-dependent elasticmodulus is suggested based on results of numerical experiments.Calculations of the Poisson's ratios suggest greater valuesthan are normally assumed in practice. Depending on the stateof stress, permeability decreases or increases with increasingcompressive stress. Stress-induced flow channeling effect iscaptured by numerical modeling for the first time and detailedmechanisms of shear dilation of fractures are provided. Basedon the numerical experiments, a set of empirical equations wassuggested for the stress-dependent permeability, consideringboth normal deformation and shear dilation of fractures. Thermo-mechanical impact on the performance of ahypothetical repository at a far-field scale (5 km by 1 km) wasinvestigated with the stress-dependent equivalent propertiesdetermined at the REV scale. This analysis shows thatmechanical responses vary significantly depending on how themechanical properties were determined. The change ofpermeability due to the thermal loading is, however, notsignificant in this particular case. The thesis provides a framework for systematic analysis oflarge-scale engineering applications in fractured rock masses,such as geological repositories of nuclear wastes. Keyword:Fractured rock masses, Equivalent Continuum,Discrete Fracture Network (DFN), Distinct Element Method (DEM),Finite Element Method (FEM), Nuclear Waste Disposal, CoupledThermo-Hydro-Mechanical Processes

One of many applications of geohydraulic modelling is assessing the suitability of a site to host a nuclear waste repository. This modelling task is complicated by scale-dependent heterogeneity and coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes. The objective here was to develop methods for (i) upscaling flow and transport in fractured media from detailed-scale data and (ii) accounting for THM-induced effects on regional-scale transport. An example field data set was used for demonstration. A systematic framework was developed where equivalent properties of flow, transport, and stress-effects were estimated with discrete fracture network (DFN) modelling, at some block scale, and then transferred to a regional-scale stochastic continuum (SC) model. The selected block scale allowed a continuum approximation of flow, but not of transport. Instead, block-scale transport was quantified by transit time distributions and modelled with a particle random walk method at the regional scale. An enhanced SC-upscaling approach was developed to reproduce the DFN flow results more simply. This required: (i) weighting of the input well-test data by their conductivity-dependent test volumes and (ii) conductivity-dependent correlation structure. Interestingly, the best-fitting correlation structure resembled the density function of DFN transmissivities. Channelized transport, over distances exceeding the block scale, was modelled with a transport persistence length. A linear relationship was found between this persistence length and the macroscale dispersion coefficient, with a slope equal to a representative mean block-scale dispersion coefficient. A method was also developed to combine well-test data and rock-mechanical data in estimating fracture transmissivities, and its application was demonstrated. Finally, an overall sequential THM analysis was introduced allowing the estimation of the significance of waste-related thermo-mechanical (TM) effects on regional transport; here TM effects are calculated separately and their impact on fracture transmissivities were incorporated into the hybrid framework. For the particular case, their effects on regional-scale transport were small.

Coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) behavior in geological porous media has been a subject of great interest in many geoengineering disciplines. Many attempts have been made to develop numerical prediction capabilities associated with topics such as the movement of pollutant plumes, gas injection, energy storage, geothermal energy extraction, and safety assessment of repositories for radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. This thesis presents a new numerical modeling approach and a new computer code for simulating coupled THM behavior in geological porous media in general, and compacted bentonite clays in particular, as buffer materials in underground radioactive waste repositories. New governing equations were derived according to the theory of mixtures, considering interactions among solid-phase deformation, flows of water and gases, heat transport, and phase change of water. For three-dimensional problems, eight governing equations were formulated to describe the coupled THM processes. A new thermal conductivity model was developed to predict the thermal conductivity of geological porous media as composite mixtures. The proposed model considers the combined effects of solid mineral composition, temperature, liquid saturation degree, porosity and pressure on the effective thermal conductivity of the porous media. The predicted results agree well with the experimental data for MX80 bentonite. A new water retention curve model was developed to predict the suction-saturation behavior of the geological porous media, as a function of suction, effective saturated degree, temperature, porosity, pore-gas pressure, and the rate of saturation degree change with time. The model was verified against experimental data of the FEBEX bentonite, with good agreement between measured and calculated results. A new finite element code (ROLG) was developed for modeling fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical processes in geological porous media. The new code was validated against several analytical solutions and experiments, and was applied to simulate the large scale in-situ Canister Retrieval Test (CRT) at Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, SKB, Sweden, with good agreement between measured and predicted results. The results are useful for performance and safety assessments of radioactive waste repositories. / QC20100720 / THERESA

<p>In this thesis, fractured rock masses are treated asequivalent continua for large-scale analyses of rockengineering projects. Systematic developments are made for thedetermination of equivalent mechanical and hydraulic propertiesof fractured rock masses using a hybrid discrete fracturenetwork - distinct element method (DFN-DEM) approach. Thedetermined equivalent properties are then used for a far-fieldfinite element analysis of the thermo-mechanical impacts on thestress, deformation and permeability of fractured rockssurrounding a hypothetical geological repository of nuclearwaste. The geological data were extracted from the results ofan extensive site investigation programme at Sellafield, UK,conducted by Nirex UK Ltd.</p><p>The scale dependencies of the hydraulic and mechanicalproperties were investigated by using multiple realizations ofthe fracture system geometry with increasing model sizes untilproperly defined hydraulic and mechanical representativeelementary volumes (REVs) were reached. The validity of thesecond order permeability tensor and the fourth-ordermechanical compliance tensor were tested for continuum analysesat larger scales. The REV was determined to be around 5 m formechanical and hydraulic data in this study.</p><p>Analysis of the stress-dependent mechanical and hydraulicproperties shows that the effect of rock stresses is crucial.The elastic moduli increase significantly with the increase ofstress and an empirical equation of stress-dependent elasticmodulus is suggested based on results of numerical experiments.Calculations of the Poisson's ratios suggest greater valuesthan are normally assumed in practice. Depending on the stateof stress, permeability decreases or increases with increasingcompressive stress. Stress-induced flow channeling effect iscaptured by numerical modeling for the first time and detailedmechanisms of shear dilation of fractures are provided. Basedon the numerical experiments, a set of empirical equations wassuggested for the stress-dependent permeability, consideringboth normal deformation and shear dilation of fractures.</p><p>Thermo-mechanical impact on the performance of ahypothetical repository at a far-field scale (5 km by 1 km) wasinvestigated with the stress-dependent equivalent propertiesdetermined at the REV scale. This analysis shows thatmechanical responses vary significantly depending on how themechanical properties were determined. The change ofpermeability due to the thermal loading is, however, notsignificant in this particular case.</p><p>The thesis provides a framework for systematic analysis oflarge-scale engineering applications in fractured rock masses,such as geological repositories of nuclear wastes.</p><p><b>Keyword:</b>Fractured rock masses, Equivalent Continuum,Discrete Fracture Network (DFN), Distinct Element Method (DEM),Finite Element Method (FEM), Nuclear Waste Disposal, CoupledThermo-Hydro-Mechanical Processes</p>