ABSTRACT
The main objective of the DECOVALEX (Development of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments) is to support the development of computer simulators and to compare model calculations with results from field and laboratory experiments. One of the tasks of the current phase of the DECOVALEX project, Task A, is to examine the hydromechanical changes that may occur in argillaceous host rocks, especially in relation to the ventilation of drifts. The task is based on the performance and results of the Ventilation Experiment (VE) carried out in the Mont Terri underground laboratory involving Opalinus clay. The task is organized in a progressive manner in terms of complexity of the computations to be performed, geared toward the full Chemo-HydroMechanical (HMC) understanding of the VE, the final objective of the task. In this paper, the modelling exercise of the first Task step is presented: a relatively simple laboratory drying experiment (Floria et. al, 2002).This experiment was originally designed to provide information to help modelling the in-situ VE and offers the possibility to calibrate some of the parameters and to identify the main processes involved in the ventilation of argillaceous rocks.
