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Degradation of Rocks, Through Cracking Caused by Differential Thermal Expansion, in Relation to Nuclear Waste Repositories*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

J.R. Mclaren ,
R.W. Davidge ,
I. Titchell ,
K. Sincock  and
A. Bromley
J.R. Mclaren
Affiliation:
Materials Development Division, AERE Harwell, Oxon, OXII ORA, UK
R.W. Davidge
Affiliation:
Materials Development Division, AERE Harwell, Oxon, OXII ORA, UK
I. Titchell
Affiliation:
Materials Development Division, AERE Harwell, Oxon, OXII ORA, UK
K. Sincock
Affiliation:
Camborne School of Mines, Redruth, Cornwall, TR15 3SE, UK.
A. Bromley
Affiliation:
Camborne School of Mines, Redruth, Cornwall, TR15 3SE, UK.
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Abstract

Heating to temperatures up to 500°C, gives a reduction in Young's modulus and increase in permeability of granitic rocks and it is likely that a major reason is grain boundary cracking. The cracking of grain boundary facets in polycrystalline multiphase materials showing anisotropic thermal expansion behaviour is controlled by several microstructural factors in addition to the intrinsic thermal and elastic properties. Of specific interest are the relative orientations of the two grains meeting at the facet, and the size of the facet; these factors thus introduce two statistical aspects to the problem and these are introduced to give quantitative data on crack density versus temperature. The theory is compared with experimental measurements of Young's modulus and permeability for various rocks as a function of temperature. There is good qualitative agreement, and the additional (mainly microstructural) data required for a quantitative comparison are defined.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 6: Symposium D – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management IV , 1981 , 355
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1982

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Footnotes

*

This work has been funded by the UK Department of the Environment and by the Commission of the European Community as part of the U.K. radioactive waste management research programme. The results will be used in the formulation of U.K. government policy, but at this stage they do not necessarily represent government policy.

References

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