Simplified evaluation for swelling characteristics of bentonites

Bentonite is currently planned to be used as buffer and backfill materials for repositories of high-level nuclear waste because these materials must have the swelling characteristics to seal the waste. In the design for buffer and backfill materials, we must choose the adequate bentonite among many kinds of bentonite in the world. The database of the swelling characteristics of various bentonites and its evaluation will be available when we will select the adequate bentonite. For this purpose, this study performed the laboratory tests on the swelling pressure and swelling deformation of four kinds of bentonite produced in Japan and the United States. These bentonites have different physicochemical properties. This study investigated the characteristics of swelling pressure and swelling deformation from the viewpoint of the physicochemical properties of each bentonite. Furthermore, this study also proposed the simplified evaluation of swelling characteristics of various bentonites on the basis of microscopic analysis.