A CSS surface based THM bounding constitutive model for volumetric behavior of bentonite

Development of the constitutive model for bentonite under coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) condition is of great significance for the construction and safety assessment of deep geological disposal repositories for high-level radioactive waste (HLW). In this work, a new temperature-suction-mean net stress (T-s-p) space with the conception of critical saturated state (CSS) surface was defined to represent the actual stress state of bentonite under coupled THM condition. Then, based on the CSS surface, a THM constitutive model was proposed for describing the volumetric behavior of compacted bentonite. Under the THM model framework, two bounding surfaces were proposed to describe the elastoplastic volume changes induced by mechanical response of skeleton and hydration of montmorillonite, respectively. The model responses upon some typical THM paths were simulated and discussed to reveal the performance of the proposed constitutive model for bentonite. Finally, the proposed model was validated by simulating by several volume change tests carried out on different bentonites. The results confirmed that the proposed model shows more advantages in describing the THM volumetric behavior.