Comparison of unconfined compressive strength on heated bentonite-sand mixture by chemical exposure

Abstract

The construction design of deep geological repositories for high-level radioactive waste (HLW) consist of the construction of a barrier system around the waste containers produced by a sealing hard stiffness material. In this paper, thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical properties of bentonite-sand were presented for geological and engineered barrier through Na-type bentonite. Unconfined compressive strengths were measured, and compared under unsaturated/saturated condition, with/without heating effect and/or chemical exposure due to salt components. Saturated specimens were swelled both distilled water and salt water with salt component of 3.5 %. Also, heating effort leaded decreasing of unconfined compressive strength for saturated bentonite-sand samples.