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Experimental study on three-dimensional swelling pressure of compacted GMZ bentonite–sand mixtures

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Abstract

The three-dimensional swelling pressure tests on the compacted Gaomiaozi (GMZ) bentonite–sand mixtures are carried out under different dry densities, sand contents and temperatures. The results show that anisotropy of swelling pressure is observed in the mixtures and the vertical swelling pressure is greater than the horizontal swelling pressure in the range of test conditions (dry densities of 1.6, 1.7, 1.8 and 1.9 g/cm3, sand contents of 0, 10%, 20% and 30%, temperatures of 30, 45, 60 and 75 ℃). The development of swelling pressure with time shows significant stage characteristics. The three-dimensional swelling pressure increases rapidly before 400 min, basically reaching 85% of the ultimate swelling pressure, and reaches equilibrium within 1400 min. The ratio of horizontal swelling pressure to vertical swelling pressure decreases with increasing dry density, which is about 0.87 when the dry density is greater than 1.8 g/cm3. When the sand content is above 20%, the increase of sand content has little effect on anisotropy. When the sand contents are the same, the vertical swelling pressure of the bentonite–sand mixtures increases with the enlargement of the dry density at temperature of 30 ℃. Under the same temperatures and dry densities, the three-dimensional swelling pressure decreases linearly with the increase of the sand content. Moreover, the slope of the relation curve increases linearly with the dry density. In the range of dry densities, when the temperature is higher than 45 ℃, the vertical swelling pressure decreases with the increase of temperature. The experimental results are of reference value for design of buffer/backfill materials in high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repository.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 41402248), Scientific Research Projects of Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities and Radioactive Waste Treatment of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (Grant no. 20181521), Key Projects of Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province (Grant no. 2018SZ0298), PI Team Project of Nuclear Waste and Environmental Safety Collaborative Innovation Center of The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Planning Project of Education Department of Sichuan Province (Grant no. 16ZB0150), and the Longshan Talent Research Program of Southwest University of Science and Technology (Grant nos. 17LZX613,18LZX638).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Resource, Southwest University of Science and Technology, 59 Qinglong Avenue, Mianyang, 621010, China

    Yu-Ping Wang, Zhe Wang, Yu Zhao, Zhen-Yu Wang & Fa-Cheng Yi

  2. International Faculty of Applied Technology, Yibin University, 8 Jiusheng Avenue, Yibin, 644000, China

    Yu-Ping Wang

  3. Fundamental Science On Nuclear Wastes and Environmental Safety Laboratory, Southwest University of Science and Technology, 59 Qinglong Avenue, Mianyang, 621010, China

    Yu-Ping Wang, Zhe Wang & Fa-Cheng Yi

  4. School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Southwest University of Science and Technology, 59 Qinglong Avenue, Mianyang, 621000, China

    Bao-Long Zhu

  5. School of Computer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University of Science & Engineering, 519 Huixing Road, Zigong, 643000, China

    Ya-Dong Wu

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  1. Yu-Ping Wang
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Wang, YP., Wang, Z., Zhao, Y. et al. Experimental study on three-dimensional swelling pressure of compacted GMZ bentonite–sand mixtures. Environ Earth Sci 80, 483 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09778-1

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