Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment最新文献

{"title":"Quantitative assessment of rock plane replica orientation detection and extraction methods under controlled experimental conditions","authors":"Nirandoal Cheng ,&nbsp;Tan Yon Ken ,&nbsp;Mohd Ashraf Mohamad Ismail ,&nbsp;Fatin Nadhirah Ahmad Pauzi ,&nbsp;Nursyahirah Mohd Saleh ,&nbsp;Yasuhiro Yokota","doi":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100649","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100649","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The characterization of discontinuous rock mass properties is essential for understanding the behaviour of rock masses in various engineering applications, such as tunnelling, mining, and slope stability analysis. This study presents an innovative approach for detecting and extracting the orientations of discontinuous rock plane replicas using image analysis techniques. The image analysis technique employed in this research involves the use of advanced algorithms in Agisoft Metashape to process digital dense point clouds, enabling the identification of discontinuities and the extraction of dip and dip direction in CloudCompare software. The performance of the image analysis technique was evaluated using the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) for dip and dip direction measurements. The RMSE values were 1.97 for dip and 2.34 for dip direction, indicating high accuracy and reliability in-plane detection. Additionally, the range of differences observed was within 5 degrees for dip and within 13 degrees for dip direction. These results support the interpretation of RMSE, highlighting the sensitivity of dip direction in image analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56008,"journal":{"name":"Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100649"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143600524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The influence of hydrating mineral components on wellbore sealing capacity of salt-plugged wells","authors":"Suzanne J.T. Hangx,&nbsp;Timotheus K.T. Wolterbeek ,&nbsp;Max J. Bruggeman ,&nbsp;Oliver Plümper","doi":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100661","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100661","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rock salt forms an important hydrocarbon caprock and a source for salt (solution) mining. With many associated wells approaching the end of their lifetime, effective <em>Plugging &amp; Abandonment</em> strategies are required. At the same time, as the energy transition progresses, many new wells will likely be drilled for specific use during geological CO₂ storage or temporary hydrogen storage. These wells, too, will eventually need to be plugged and abandoned safely. We investigated the sealing effectiveness of a potential alternative for Portland cement as plugging material, consisting of a mixture of metal oxides (CaO, MgO) and salt (NaCl), wherein hydration leads to significant volumetric expansions. In 11 out of 17 flow-through experiments, the apparent plug permeability fell to 10⁻¹⁷–10⁻¹⁸ m² upon hydration, under differential pressures of 0.2–1.8 MPa. One CaO:NaCl sample could withstand up to 2 MPa differential pressure across its 5-cm-length, attaining a minimum apparent permeability of 10⁻²¹ m². Apparent plug permeability correlated closely with the expected final solid volume fraction, i.e., the amount of void space remaining. Upscaling to realistic wellbore dimensions (10–100 m) suggests that expanding metal oxide-salt plugs set in steel casing could withstand differential pressures of 3.6–40 MPa/m. For evaporitic caprocks, this implies that metal oxide-salt plugs can be a potential alternative to conventional Portland cement, ensuring plug closure and potentially sealing within several hours. However, sealing highly depends on the amount of metal oxide available and the volume of void space requiring closure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56008,"journal":{"name":"Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100661"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143637806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of flow direction and soil characteristics on suffusion susceptibility: Analyzing soil resistance and filtration effects","authors":"Dinh Minh Tran ,&nbsp;Didier Marot ,&nbsp;Fateh Bendahmane ,&nbsp;Rachel Gelet","doi":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100657","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100657","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Most suffusion tests described in the literature are performed by applying a vertical flow to homogenous specimens, whereas on site, the flow can be in another direction and the soil may display local variations of density and grain size distribution. A series of suffusion tests are performed with a multi-direction flow device, under vertical or horizontal flow. Two cohesionless soils which slightly differ by their grain size distribution and density are tested. Specimens are either composed of a single soil or bi-layered, i.e. a layer of each soil. The suffusion susceptibility is characterized by two critical hydraulic gradients and an erosion resistance index. With the current testing procedure, the influence of the local density variations on the suffusion susceptibility is not significant. The results show that under horizontal flow, each tested soil becomes more heterogeneous, but also slightly more resistant towards suffusion. When considering bi-layered specimens and a flow parallel to the soil interface, the suffusion susceptibility is mainly controlled by the most erodible soil. On the other hand, when the flow is perpendicular to the soil interface, the suffusion susceptibility is mainly controlled by the most resistant soil. The results also highlight the influence of pore opening on the filtration and the selection of the pore opening of the downstream filter is discussed<strong>.</strong></div></div>","PeriodicalId":56008,"journal":{"name":"Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100657"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143600523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of short- and long-term coupled THM behaviours in argillaceous rock for nuclear waste disposal","authors":"Fei Song ,&nbsp;Antonio Gens ,&nbsp;Stefano Collico ,&nbsp;Carlos Plúa ,&nbsp;Gilles Armand ,&nbsp;Huaning Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100660","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100660","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Deep geological disposal is recognised as the most feasible method for the management of High-level Nuclear Waste (HLW). This study involved the performance of numerical analyses to evaluate the short- and long-term Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) behaviour of HLW disposals at the repository scale. A far-field numerical model is analysed, considering geological profiles 1000 m deep from the surface. In the analyses, an elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model is employed to characterize the behaviour of the argillaceous host rock, taking into account hardening-softening behaviour, anisotropy of THM properties, as well as permeability variation due to damage. Generalized Darcy’s law and Fourier’s law are utilized to represent the liquid and heat fluxes, respectively. Wide-ranging parametric analyses are performed to investigate the effect of spacing between parallel microtunnels and of different multi-physics interactions on the evolution of THM behaviour at the repository scale. Variations in spacing significantly impact the temperature and pore pressure fields, which in turn influence the development of potential damage zones. An enhanced understanding of the THM mechanisms associated with the short-term and long-term stability of nuclear waste disposals has been achieved in this study, therefore, providing valuable insights for the design and optimization of the geological repositories.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56008,"journal":{"name":"Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100660"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143610035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Numerical simulation of copper-contaminated sediment consolidation and remediation through vacuum electro-osmosis","authors":"Yang Shen,&nbsp;Wencheng Qi,&nbsp;Shaoyu Li,&nbsp;Zilin Yang,&nbsp;Kaijia Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100655","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100655","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The combination of vacuum electro-osmosis treatment and electrokinetic remediation allows for the simultaneous consolidation and remediation of contaminated sediments, involving multiple coupled fields such as electrical field, hydraulic field, mechanical field, and chemical field. This study couples the charge conservation, vacuum electro-osmosis consolidation, and contaminant transport equations under vacuum electro-osmosis conditions to establish a numerical model for the consolidation and remediation process. Laboratory experiments were conducted for comparative analyses. The numerical results show that the electric field intensity decays from both sides towards the center. However, the other positions align well with the experimental results, indicating the ability of the numerical model to reflect the non-uniform distribution of soil potential. The anode and cathode regions become negative pressure centers, resulting in an increasing seepage velocity towards the negative pressure centers. The numerical results accurately capture the trend of pore water pressure development before 40 h, although the absolute value obtained after 40 h is slightly overestimated. Additionally, the numerical results demonstrate a 47% removal efficiency of copper at the anode after 48 h, which is consistent with the experimental results. The distribution of electric field and contaminants are affected by the shape of the electrode board.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56008,"journal":{"name":"Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100655"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143534435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Safety assessment for a geological disposal facility in domal salt: The Dutch case","authors":"Jeroen Bartol,&nbsp;Marja Vuorio","doi":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100645","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100645","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the Netherlands, all radioactive waste is currently collected and stored above ground for at least 100 years by COVRA. After 100 years, all radioactive waste must be permanently disposed of. One option for permanent disposal currently considered is a purpose-built geological disposal facility in rock salt, where a combination of natural and engineered barriers is expected to provide the necessary safety. Rock salt, as a natural barrier, is considered impermeable when undisturbed. Therefore, radionuclides can only reach the surface via the mined openings of the geological disposal facility. Here, multiple engineered barriers provide the necessary safety. In the short term, these include concrete seals, HLW packages, and waste forms. In the long term, moisturized granular salt backfill provides containment. Here, we present the safety assessment of a geological disposal facility in rock salt, using the updated Dutch disposal concept and waste inventory. In total, seven different scenarios are modelled: the (1) normal evolution scenario in which the geological disposal facility evolves as expected, and six alternative scenarios: failure of (2) the high level waste packages, (3) failure of the tunnel seals, (4) failure of the spiral ramp seal, (5) flow path between a brine pocket and mine excavations, (6) less probable characteristics of radionuclide mobilization and transport, (7) and reduced long-term sealing by backfill. Model results show that when the geological disposal facility evolves as expected, no release of radionuclides is expected. Likewise, no release is expected in the six alternative scenarios, although differences exist in the extent to which radionuclides are able to travel within the geological disposal facility. These results indicate that the engineered barriers, combined with the natural barrier of the rock salt, are effective in isolating and providing containment during at the least the first million years after closure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56008,"journal":{"name":"Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100645"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143519320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrated evaluation of stiffness degradation by combining Resonant-Column, Cyclic Triaxial and Cyclic Simple Shear Tests: Application to Riotinto mine tailings","authors":"Hernán Patiño ,&nbsp;Fausto Molina-Gómez ,&nbsp;Rubén Galindo ,&nbsp;António Viana da Fonseca","doi":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100652","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100652","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study introduces a methodology for integrating stiffness degradation curve results obtained through various experimental methods. The proposed approach involves an extensive experiment program comprising 108 resonant column tests, 27 cyclic simple shear tests, and 29 cyclic triaxial tests. These tests were conducted under diverse cyclic strain and effective consolidation stress conditions, focusing on identifying variables to unify the behaviour for each material type into a common predictive equation. To validate this novel approach, three materials derived from the tailings of the Riotinto mines (Huelva, Spain) were tested. The methodology provides a detailed account of testing procedures for integrating the test results from the three devices. Laboratory findings indicate that capturing the variation trend of soil stiffness degradation regarding cyclic strain and effective consolidation stress is feasible. This is achieved using empirical functions, such as exponential and potential equations based on the strain range. The methodology enables the determination of necessary adjustment constants specific to the material tested, which can be obtained through the developed approach, contributing to preserving tailings storage facilities located in zones under seismic risk.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56008,"journal":{"name":"Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100652"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143508590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Thermo-hydro mechanical coupling in a discrete modelling: Large-scale 3D application to thermal hydrofracturing","authors":"Zady Ouraga ,&nbsp;Carlos Plúa ,&nbsp;Minh-Ngoc Vu ,&nbsp;Gilles Armand","doi":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100656","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100656","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This work aims to model an in-situ heating test (CRQ) conducted by the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra) within the Meuse/Haute-Marne Underground Research Laboratory (MHM URL), using a discrete approach. The modelling of the CRQ test is part of numerical simulations performed through the international research project DECOVALEX. The goal of the CRQ test is to study the conditions under which thermal hydrofracturing can occur in the Callovo-Oxfordian claystone (COx) formation and to identify its influence on pore pressure evolution. The present discrete model introduces thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupling into the Itasca discrete code 3DEC, which represents an assembly of elastic deformable blocks with interfaces modelled as joints. The THM formulation is implemented in the 3DEC code using an iterative approach. At each step, this iterative numerical solving starts by the thermal simulation. Then, the hydro-mechanical calculation is carried out by a series of hydraulic and mechanical computations until equilibrium is reached. This iterative process repeats at each timestep until the final calculation time is achieved. To model the fracturing process in the COx, a failure criterion based on Mohr Coulomb with tensile cut-off is used for the joints. The THM coupling implementation is first validated against a poro-elastic closed-form solution by considering a heat source within an infinite saturated porous medium. Afterwards, the CRQ experiment is considered with particular attention to the phenomenon of thermal fracturing, as the main advantage of the discrete model lies in its explicitly representation of fractures. This study also demonstrates the ability of a discrete model in dealing with a large model that includes multiple processes (THM coupling and rock failure).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56008,"journal":{"name":"Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100656"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143563425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A comparative analysis of numerical approaches for the description of gas flow in clay-based repository systems: From a laboratory to a large-scale gas injection test","authors":"E. Tamayo-Mas ,&nbsp;J.F. Harrington ,&nbsp;I.P. Damians ,&nbsp;J.T. Kim ,&nbsp;E. Radeisen ,&nbsp;J. Rutqvist ,&nbsp;C. Lee ,&nbsp;B.S. Noghretab ,&nbsp;R.J. Cuss","doi":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100654","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100654","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is nowadays a consensus among many countries that geological disposal is a favourable solution for the long-term management. Although different host formations and different barrier systems are under consideration around the world, clay-based materials form an important component for waste isolation in most national programmes. Hence, a good comprehension of the effect of gas flow on the hydro-mechanical behaviour of clay-based soils is essential, both at laboratory and field scale. Task B under the international cooperative project DECOVALEX-2023 has recently shown that, after some enhancement, models can be employed to reproduce laboratory scale tests, even with different sample geometries<span><span>³⁷</span></span>. However, further work is required to understand whether they can be applied to simulate a large-scale experiment. Up-scaling of models for the advective transport of gas through clay-based low permeable material presents a number of problems related to the difficulty in obtaining consistent hydrogeological parameters and constitutive relationships at both laboratory and field scale. Based on a unique dataset from a large-scale gas injection test (Lasgit) performed at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (Sweden), Task B within DECOVALEX-2023 has explored the refinement of these numerical strategies applied to the simulation of gas flow. Work performed within the task reveals that codes do not need to be substantially modified from the laboratory models to reproduce full-scale tests: indeed, model parameters calibrated and validated at laboratory scale have been applied to predict field scale gas flow at Lasgit, including peak gas pressure and injected cumulative gas volume. By means of (1) the introduction of interfaces between blocks to reflect the experimental configuration and the (2) adjustment of some parameters (e.g., higher permeability), the updated models are able to represent most of the key features observed in the experimental data, even at a large scale.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56008,"journal":{"name":"Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100654"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143562708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Numerical investigation of THM behavior in anisotropic poroelastic media: from element test to geological disposal applications","authors":"Fei Song ,&nbsp;Antonio Gens ,&nbsp;Stefano Collico ,&nbsp;Huaning Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100653","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gete.2025.100653","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) behaviour in anisotropic poroelastic media. The elastic stiffness is represented by using a cross-anisotropic constitutive model, while the water flow and the heat conduction are represented by using generalized Darcy's law and Fourier's law, respectively. Specifically, the THM formulations are modified to account for an anisotropic porous medium using anisotropic Biot's effective stress. As a verification step, numerical predictions of pore pressure evolutions subjected to mechanical and thermal loadings agree well with those obtained from analytical solutions. Numerical studies are conducted to identify the overpressure mechanism resulting from stress redistribution and thermal pressurization. As the discrepancy between Biot's coefficients and one increases, the inconsistency in the resulting pore pressures becomes more evident when using different definitions of solid pressure expression. Furthermore, a significant difference has been observed in pore pressure evolution computed by anisotropic and the equivalent isotropic Biot’s coefficient for Opalinus clay, but no obvious difference for Callovo-Oxfordian. These findings have implications for the understanding of the THM behaviour of argillaceous rocks, which benefit the potential geological applications in nuclear waste disposals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56008,"journal":{"name":"Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100653"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143479568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}