Imperial College London
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Professor of Rock Mechanics

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Chair in Rock Mechanics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 7412r.w.zimmerman

 
 
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Location

 

2.38DRoyal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@inproceedings{Saceanu:2020,
author = {Saceanu, MC and Paluszny, A and Zimmerman, RW and Mas, Ivars D},
title = {Numerical modelling of spalling around a nuclear waste storage deposition borehole using a fracture mechanics approach},
year = {2020}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Fracture growth leading to mechanical spalling around a deposition borehole for disused nuclear fuel waste is modelled numerically. Simulations are conducted using a finite-element-based discrete fracture growth simulator, which computes deformation in the system based on the mechanical properties of the rock. Fractures are grown by computing stress intensity factors at each fracture tip, and the mesh is re-generated to accommodate the changing fracture geometries at every growth step. Several numerical models are created to explore the effect of boundary conditions on the initiation and development of spalling fractures at Forsmark, where the Swedish repository for nuclear waste is planned to be constructed. It is shown that the reported uncertainty in the principal stress magnitudes and orientations will affect the predicted fracture nucleation and growth patterns, and implicitly the final repository design. The potential effect of spalling on the structural integrity of the deposition borehole is illustrated for each stress scenario.
AU  - Saceanu,MC
AU  - Paluszny,A
AU  - Zimmerman,RW
AU  - Mas,Ivars D
PY  - 2020///
TI  - Numerical modelling of spalling around a nuclear waste storage deposition borehole using a fracture mechanics approach
ER  -
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