Experimental Investigations for the Modelling of Chemo-mechanical Processes in Anhydritic Rock

Swelling anhydritic rock can cause severe damage to tunnels. Even though this phenomenon was first observed more than a century ago, many knowledge gaps persist concerning the swelling mechanisms caused by the transformation from anhydrite to gypsum. One of these gaps is the relationship between swelling pressure and swelling strain. This paper presents experimental research results concerning the stress dependency of the swelling caused by anhydrite to gypsum transformation.