ABSTRACT
Two sets of laboratory experiments have been modelled to date: the first involves characterizing the hydro-mechanical behaviour of the bentonitesand mixture; the second is a 1/10th scale mock-up of the SEALEX experiment, which includes a 4.5 mm void between the compacted bentonitesand plug and the rigid hydration cell to simulate the initial technological void which exists in the in situ SEALEX experiment, between the plug and the surrounding rock-mass. The modelling teams first calibrated their models using the first set of experiments and then used this calibration to make a blind prediction of the second experiment. Finally the data from the second experiment were released and the models were calibrated to the data. This paper contains a brief description of the data available from the hydro-mechanical tests followed by a description of the 1/10th scale mock-up.
