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A solution around a backfilled cavity in a low‐permeability poroelastic medium with application in in situ heating tests
Author(s) -
Yu L.,
Chen G.J.,
Weetjens E.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal for numerical and analytical methods in geomechanics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.419
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1096-9853
pISSN - 0363-9061
DOI - 10.1002/nag.2542
Subject(s) - poromechanics , biot number , casing , pore water pressure , permeability (electromagnetism) , mechanics , consolidation (business) , geotechnical engineering , laplace transform , materials science , thermal , porous medium , geology , porosity , thermodynamics , petroleum engineering , chemistry , physics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , biochemistry , accounting , membrane , business
Summary Thermo‐hydro‐mechanical responses around a cylindrical cavity drilled or excavated in a low‐permeability formation are studied when the cavity is subjected to a time‐dependent thermal loading. The cavity is considered backfilled after it is supported by casing or lining. Solutions of temperature, pore water pressure, stress, and displacement responses are analytically formulated based on Biot's consolidation theory with the assumption that the backfilling material, supporting material, and surrounding low‐permeability formation are poroelastic media. The solution is expressed in Laplace space, and numerical inversion techniques are used to find field variables in the real‐time domain. After the solution is verified with the numerical results, it is applied in a large‐scale in situ heating test – PRACLAY heating test – for a predictive reference calculation and an extensive parametric study. Another medium‐scale in situ heating test – ATLAS III heating test – is also analyzed using the solution, which provides reasonable agreement with measurements. The new analytical solution proves to be a convenient tool for a good understanding of the resulting coupled thermo‐hydro‐mechanical behavior and is therefore valuable for the interpretation of measured data in engineering practices and for a rational design of potential radioactive waste repositories. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.