Alex Bond will be giving a webinar hosted by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers at 2 pm GMT on Wednesday 30ᵗʰ November. It will focus on the application of COMSOL to model the potential for thermally induced fracturing of deep clays as part of DECOVALEX-2023.
DECOVALEX (DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments) is a long-running international research project involving radioactive waste management organisations, regulators, research institutes and consultants in building understanding in modelling complex coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical processes (THMC). The project has a focus on deep geological disposal and aims to bring together experimentalists and modellers in a common forum.
Alex’s webinar will cover the task in the current DECOVALEX phase that considers the potential for thermally induced fracturing of deep clays. The work, undertaken with funding from Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), builds on state-of-the-art field-scale experimental data, using COMSOL Multiphysics® to develop system understanding and make blind predictions of the evolution of the field-scale experiment. The modelling approach and key results for the deep disposal of radioactive waste in deep, low-permeability formations will be discussed.