Modeling of inherent anisotropic behavior of partially saturated clayey rocks

Clayey rocks are frequently chosen as a geological barrier material for underground repositories. The inherent anisotropic mechanical behavior and the evolution of mechanical behavior with water content are two crucial material properties for the safety analysis of these structures. The present paper focuses on numerical modeling of the inherent anisotropy and the effect of water content, as well as the interactions of these properties in partially saturated clayey rocks with preferably oriented bedding planes. A discrete thermodynamic approach is adopted for describing the inherent anisotropic mechanical behavior, and the anisotropy of the elastic parameters, plastic evolution and damage evolution are considered. Capillary pressure is introduced to describe the effect of the water content with the help of the effective stress concept, and a procedure for the identification of the model parameters is presented. Finally, the proposed model is applied to a study of triaxial compression tests of argillite with different orientations of the bedding planes and variable water content. In summary, the main features of the studied material are well reproduced by the model.