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Investigating the swelling pressure of highly compacted bentonite/sand mixtures under constant-volume conditions

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Abstract

Compacted bentonite/sand mixtures are often considered as sealing/backfilling materials in deep geological disposal for radioactive waste. This study investigates the swelling pressure of compacted bentonite/sand mixtures with different bentonite fractions and dry densities upon hydration under constant-volume conditions. It was found that the swelling pressure of bentonite/sand mixtures is strongly dependent on their bentonite fraction and final montmorillonite dry density. For the samples with a bentonite fraction larger than a critical value, there is a linear relationship between the swelling pressure and final montmorillonite dry density. By contrast, for the samples with a bentonite fraction lower than the critical value, the sand particles will be skeletonized after strong compaction and lead to a heterogeneous distribution of montmorillonite, resulting in a larger swelling pressure compared to the samples with higher bentonite fractions. The maximum sand skeleton void ratio, corresponding to that at which the sand skeleton is just formed, is used to estimate the critical montmorillonite dry density and the critical bentonite fraction. Comparison between the test data and the estimated results shows good agreement, indicating the relevance of the identified swelling mechanism for compacted bentonite/sand mixtures.

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Abbreviations

B :

Bentonite fraction (in dry mass) in the mixture

B c :

Critical bentonite fraction

e s :

Sand void ratio

e s-max :

Maximum sand skeleton void ratio

G sm :

Specific gravity of montmorillonite

G ss :

Specific gravity of sand

m m :

Dry mass of montmorillonite

V m :

Montmorillonite volume

V other :

Volume excluding sand

V s :

Volume of sand

V w :

Water volume

\(\it {\upalpha}\) :

Montmorillonite content in bentonite

\(\it {\uprho}_{\text{dm}}\) :

Final montmorillonite dry density

\(\it {\uprho}_{\text{dm}}^{\text{c}}\) :

Critical montmorillonite dry density

ρ d :

Dry density of mixture

\(\it {\uprho}_{\text{w}}\) :

Water unit mass

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Acknowledgements

The present work was financially supported by the French Radioactive Waste Management Agencymen (ANDRA). The first author also acknowledges the financial support from China Scholarship Council (CSC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Navier/CERMES, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, 6–8 av. Blaise Pascal, Cité Descartes, Champs-sur-Marne, 77455, Marne La Vallée Cedex 2, France

    Zhixiong Zeng & Yu-Jun Cui

  2. Andra, 1/7, rue Jean Monnet, 92298, Châtenay-Malabry Cedex, France

    Jean Talandier

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  1. Zhixiong Zeng
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  2. Yu-Jun Cui
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  3. Jean Talandier
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Correspondence to Zhixiong Zeng.

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Zeng, Z., Cui, YJ. & Talandier, J. Investigating the swelling pressure of highly compacted bentonite/sand mixtures under constant-volume conditions. Acta Geotech. 17, 2573–2580 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-021-01352-0

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