CX-025513: Development of Full Understanding of Mechanical-Chemical Coupling in Bentonite THMC Processes-Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University proposes to develop both experimental and modeling capabilities for a full understanding of mechanical-chemical (MC) coupling in an engineered barrier and to provide needed constitutive relationships and supporting data for modeling a long-term thermal-hydrological-mechanical-chemical (THMC) evolution in an engineered barrier system (e.g., potential emergence of buffer material heterogeneity through the MC coupling).