Fluid flow in 0.5-m scale blocks of Topopah Spring tuff

摘要

A laboratory experiment was conducted on a 0.5-m scale block of Topopah Spring tuff, to measure fluid flow and mechanical deformation properties under conditions that approximate the near-field environment of a potential nuclear waste repository, and to provide an intermediate-scale test case for numerical model validation. The test specimen is a 0.25 x 0.25 x 0.50 m rectangular prism bisected by an artificial (saw-cut) fracture orthogonal to the tuff fabric. Water was supplied by a point source at the center of the fracture under various pressures of up to 0.04 MPa. Both fluid flow and mechanical properties were found to be anisotropic and strongly correlated with the ash flow fabric. Fluid mass-balance measurements revealed that only minor imbibition of water occurred through the fracture surfaces and that flow rates were independent of normal stress to 14.0 MPa and temperature to 140 C. Flow through the fracture occurred largely through uncorrelated porosity that intersected the fracture plane.