A numerical simulation of thermo-mechanical behavior of the intact rock in response to the Borehole Heater Test

In order to investigate the heating effects of High-Level radioactive Waste (HLW) on the intact rock, a Borehole Heater Test (BHT) has been conducted at KAERI Underground Research Tunnel (KURT). In this study, coupled thermo-mechanical (TM) processes carried out at KURT main experiment were simulated by a finite-element code, ABAQUS and its applicability to TM process is investigated. The model incorporates real test configurations by including all site-specific information of BHT. This study mainly describes and discusses the thermal and mechanical behavior from numerical analysis and compares them with experimental observations. A special focus has been on thermal stress analysis of selected stress-meters around the heater and on the factors that affect the thermo-mechanical behavior. The comparison of results shows good integrity with the thermal-mechanical phenomena of geological medium.