Modelling of drying and cracking initiation in a gallery excavated in shale

Damage induced by desiccation (i.e. drying shrinkage and cracking) is an issue in deep geological nuclear waste storage engineering. It affects clay barriers which are submitted to thermal and hydraulic coupled loads induced by the confined waste (Graham et al. 1997). A dried and cracked zone can also form in the underground gallery host shale due to ventilation effects (Ramambasoa et al. 2000).