ABSTRACT
Numerical modeling is an important tool for safety analysis related to radioactive waste disposal. It supports the understanding of strongly coupled processes occurring in the host rock such as excavation and backfilling. The present paper accounts for a thermomechanical modeling approach for simulating the periods before, during and after backfilling of cavity 1an located in the central part of the repository Morsleben. For modeling the behavior of saltcrete M2 used as backfilling material, we consider a simplified and an extended hydration model. The hydration models allow stiffness, temperature and shrinkage developments during backfilling. We find good agreement between the numerical results and the monitored temperature data. Furthermore, we correlate the computed displacements with acoustic emissions recorded in the field. The displacements and the acoustic emissions cloud show similar behavior before, during and directly after the backfilling. The differences at later periods after the backfilling are discussed and indicate further points for (i) differentiated evaluation of acoustic emissions data and (ii) model extension such as the modeling of dilatancy and the coupling with hydraulic effects.
