Creep behaviour in thermal and mechanical consolidation tests on Boom clay
Résumé
Boom clay, a stiff clay from the Underground Research Laboratory (URL) at Mol (Belgium) may be the host medium for a long-term radioactive waste storage facility. To study the thermal-hydromechanical properties of this clay, an experimental investigation was carried out on a testing system permitting high pressure triaxial tests at controlled temperature. Thermal and mechanical consolidation tests were carried out, following isobar heating and isothermal compression paths. The results showed that a compression and heating velocity lower than that in the literature seemed necessary to ameliorate the consolidation of the soil samples. Creep behaviour was observed at an isobar and isothermal state following an isotropic compression or a heating. Heating tests showed a clear effect of temperature on the creep behaviour of the soil.