Impact of high-pH fluid circulation on long term hydromechanical behaviour and microstructure of compacted clay from the laboratory of Meuse-Haute Marne (France)

The main object of the study was to depict couplings between the hydromechanical behaviour of compacted clayey soil and the mineralogical and microstructural transformations induced by high-pH water. This high-pH water could be generated by the degradation of concrete lining of deep galleries in the context of the storage of nuclear wastes in deep facilities. The tested material is the clay that comes from the laboratory of the Meuse-Haute Marne laboratory (MHM-clay). Compacted MHM-clay samples were subjected to the circulation of high-pH water or natural site water over an 18-month period. The hydromechanical properties, microstructural characteristics and some physicochemical properties of the samples were then determined (i.e., shear strength, swelling properties, retention curve, mineralogy and microstructure). After the circulation of high-pH water, a strong reduction of the swelling properties associated to an increase in friction angle was evidenced, whereas the hydrodynamic properties remained stable. These modifications were associated with an alteration of the fabric of the samples, i.e., the dissolution of the initial clay minerals and the precipitation of neoformed illite, which is a non-swelling mineral. The results demonstrated that chemo-hydromechanical couplings occurred during the circulation of high-pH water and resulted in the modification of the material's mineralogy. Thus, these processes are likely to alter the sealing characteristics of a backfill constructed from a compacted MHM-clay in the very long term. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.