Modelling the creep behaviour and induced failure of clay rock from microscale viscosity to large-scale time-dependant gallery convergences using a multiscale numerical approach

Abstract

The large-scale creep behaviour of Callovo-Oxfordian (COx) clay rock is modelled from small-scale viscous mechanisms of the rock using a multiscale numerical approach in the context of radioactive waste repositories. At the mesoscale, the saturated non-homogeneous rock is represented in digital 2D Representative Elementary Areas (REAs) as a cracked composite material consisting of rigid elastic mineral inclusions (quartz, calcite, and pyrite) embedded in a clay matrix. The modelling of these materials is considered within double-scale finite element framework, in which the homogenised responses of the REA to the enforced global kinematics serve as a numerical constitutive relation at the macroscale. To reproduce the rock creeping, two viscous mechanisms have been introduced to consider the creep of the clay matrix: either the viscoplasticity of the clay aggregates or the viscoelasticity of their contacts, or both. Firstly, laboratory biaxial creep tests of clay rock samples are simulated. A three-stage creep stage is reproduced and the creep failure process is discussed. Then, large-scale underground engineering structures are modelled to reproduce its time-dependent behaviour. It is found that the developed multiscale model is able to provide some valuable insights into the large-scale creep behaviour of clay rocks through the morphological and material small-scale characterization of REA.