The Äspö pillar stability experiment: Part I—Experiment design

Abstract

The Äspö pillar stability experiment was carried out to examine the failure process in a heterogeneous and fractured rock mass when subjected to coupled excavation-induced and thermal-induced stresses. The rock pillar was created by the excavation of two adjacent large-diameter boreholes. The pillar was loaded by a combination of excavation-induced stresses and heating of the surrounding rock by a rectangular heater pattern. The experiment was designed using the observation design method. The characterzation of the experiment volume showed that the experiment was located in a fractured water-bearing rock mass that was considered typical for the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (Äspö HRL) and for the Fenno-Scandinavian shield. Scoping calculations using two- and three-dimensional elastic stress analyses were carried out to reduce the uncertainty for the far-field in-situ stresses, establish the geometry for the access tunnel that would provide a elevated uniform stresses in the floor of the tunnel, and determine the optimum width of the pillar. It was concluded, based on the rock mass characteristics, that a 1 m-wide pillar formed by two 1.75 m diameter boreholes would meet the design objectives. Thermal modelling showed that thermally induced stresses in the pillar were adequate to elevate the pillar stresses above the stress magnitude required to initiate failure. Acoustic emission, displacement, and thermal monitoring systems were installed according to the experiment design without problems. No sensors were lost over the three month duration. After the experiment was completed, a laser scan of the pillar revealed the extent of the damaged pillar. The experiment commenced in January 2002 and was successfully completed in 2006.