Thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of compacted bentonite

Like every human activity, the nuclear activities generate waste. Because of the particular characters of the nuclear waste, a special geological formation and also plug material for storage of the high level nuclear waste is necessary. The plug material plays an important role in confining the radioactive waste. Therefore, one needs a material with the character of very low permeability and a good capacity of holding the radionuclides. The compacted bentonite will thus be employed as such plug material. So it is very important to evaluate the swelling characters of compacted bentonite. Here, it is presented an experimental study of thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of compacted bentonite of MX-80, based on tests carried out in an isotropic high-pressure cell (60 MPa) in the range 20 and 80 degrees C (+/- 0.1 degrees C). The results present the deformation of compacted bentonite as a function of temperature, suction and pressure.