Drying induced shrinkage of Boom Clay: an experimental investigation

Drying induced shrinkage of geomaterials may have a strong effect on geostructure stability and deformation. Settlement of foundations, fracture opening on slopes, roads, tunnel walls may be due to drying shrinkage. However, there is still a lack of knowledge concerning shrinkage evolution in time and shrinkage propagation within the material. In this study, the shrinkage of a specific clayey rock, Boom Clay, under drying conditions is experimentally investigated. This rock is a deep geological formation which is under study for high-level and long-life radioactive waste storage in Belgium. Two experimental campaigns are here presented. The first one, based on vapour equilibrium drying technique and completed by sample size manual measurement, aims to characterize the material shrinkage in balanced states. The second one, based on convective drying technique completed by shape monitoring using X-ray tomography, aims to analyse how shrinkage develops before reaching a steady state. Both approaches put in evidence the shrinkage anisotropy of this structurally bedded rock, with a ratio around 2 between the direction of maximum strains and the direction of minimum strains. However, the two drying techniques also provide complementary results, as the relation between the amount of shrinkage and the retention curve (for the uniform drying imposed with saline solutions) and the kinetics of shrinkage propagation inside the material (for the non-uniform drying imposed with air convection).