Sparsely fractured hard rock

Rutqvist, J M. Chijimatsu, L. Jing, A. Millard. T.S. Nguyen, A. Rejeb, Y.Sugita and C.F. Tsang, Evaluation of the impact of thermal-hydrological-mechanical couplings in bentonite and near-field rock barriers of a nuclear waste repository in sparsely fractured hard rock, this volume, 2004. 

EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF THERMAL-HYDROLOGICAL-MECHANICAL COUPLINGS IN BENTONITE AND NEAR-FIELD ROCK BARRIERS OF A NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY IN SPARSELY FRACTURED HARD ROCK... 

In terms of numerical methods, the dominance by FEM with equivalent continuum approach might not be most suitable for sparsely or moderately fractured hard rocks and more advanced methods and codes using discrete approach are needed. The issue of applicability of the equivalent media approach, the associated scale effects, and uncertainty evaluations need to be fully explored. The processes are dominated by coupled stress-flow problems and effects of thermo-chemical effects need more attention. More works for soils, clays, sands and other similar media, which are equally, if not more, important in the fields of geo-engineering and environments, seem also needed. 

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