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  4. Anisotropic behaviour of Opalinus Clay through consolidated and drained triaxial testing in saturated conditions
 
research article

Anisotropic behaviour of Opalinus Clay through consolidated and drained triaxial testing in saturated conditions

Favero, Valentina  
•
Ferrari, Alessio  
•
Laloui, Lyesse  
2018
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering

This paper investigates the anisotropic hydro-mechanical behaviour of Opalinus Clay shale, the host material currently being considered for the construction of a nuclear waste repository in Switzerland. Consolidated and drained triaxial tests on Opalinus Clay from the Mont Terri URL have been conducted in order to derive information on its strength and stiffness properties. Opalinus Clay specimens were tested both parallel to bedding (P-specimens) and perpendicular to bedding (S7 specimens). The considered effective confining stress range (from 2 to 12 MPa) has been selected in order to reproduce possible in-situ stress conditions for the repository. In this work, particular attention has been paid to the experimental procedure in order to ensure consolidated conditions and avoid generation of unwanted excess pore water pressure during drained shearing. The Skempton B parameter has been determined for all the tested specimens in order to ensure saturation. Both single-stage and multistage triaxial testing procedures were adopted in the experimental campaign. The results of the triaxial tests highlight an anisotropic elastic response of Opalinus Clay: S specimens present a more compliant behavior than P-specimens. The values of the Young modulus are found to increase with the increase in mean effective stress. The analysis of the peak and ultimate shear strength results reveals that the material behaves in a similar manner regardless of the considered direction of loading (P and S directions) with respect to the bedding orientation. Peak and ultimate failure envelopes for Opalinus Clay were derived for the investigated stress range.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1007/s00603-017-1398-5
Author(s)
Favero, Valentina  
Ferrari, Alessio  
Laloui, Lyesse  
Date Issued

2018

Published in
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
Volume

51

Issue

5

Start page

1305

End page

1319

Subjects

Shales

•

Opalinus Clay

•

Triaxial testing

•

Anisotropy

•

Nuclear waste disposal

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LMS  
Available on Infoscience
December 27, 2017
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/143561
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