Anisotropic thermal conductivity of natural Boom Clay

Linh Quyen Dao (1) , Pierre Delage (1) , Anh Minh A.M. Tang (1) , Yu-Jun Cui (1) , Jean-Michel Pereira (1) , Xiang-Ling Li (2) , Xavier Sillen (3)

1 cermes - Géotechnique
2 EURIDICE - ESV EURIDICE GIE
3 ONDRAF - Organisme national des déchets radioactifs et des matières fissiles enrichies

The thermal conductivity of host rocks is an important parameter in the design of deep geological disposal of heat-emitting radioactive waste. Due to bedding, heat transfer in sedimentary rocks is affected by their transversally isotropic structure. In this work, an experimental program is run to measure the thermal conductivities of Boom Clay along various orientations with respect to the bedding plane by using the needle thermal probe technique. Measurements were performed on specimens obtained from cores drilled from the HADES Underground Research Laboratory (URL) at Mol, Belgium, at a depth of 223 m. The thermal conductivity values obtained are in good agreement with those previously published, confirming the thermal anisotropy of Boom Clay. Moreover, the observed changes in thermal conductivity with respect to the distance to the gallery provide further evidence on the extent of the Excavation Damaged Zone around the gallery.

Mots clés: Laboratory test; Thermal conductivity; Boom Clay; Thermal anisotropy; Excavation Damaged Zone

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]; Mécanique [physics.med-ph]; Mécanique des matériaux [physics.class-ph]; Planète et Univers [physics]; Sciences de la Terre; Géologie appliquée

Linh Quyen Dao, Pierre Delage, Anh Minh A.M. Tang, Yu-Jun Cui, Jean-Michel Pereira, et al.. Anisotropic thermal conductivity of natural Boom Clay. Applied Clay Science, 2014, 101, pp.282-287. ⟨hal-01111299⟩