The Mechanical Behavior Of Salt X

Rock salt formations have long been recognized as a valuable resource - not only for salt mining but for construction of oil and gas storage caverns and for isolation of radioactive and other hazardous wastes. Current interest is fast expanding towards construction and re-use of solution-mined caverns for storage of renewable energy in the form of hydrogen, compressed air and other gases. Evaluating the long term performance and safety of such systems demands an understanding of the coupled mechanical behavior and transport properties of salt. This volume presents a collection of 60 research papers defining the state-of-the-art in the field. Topics range from fundamental work on deformation mechanisms and damage of rock salt to compaction of engineered salt backfill. The latest constitutive models are applied in computational studies addressing the evolution and integrity of storage caverns, repositories, salt mines and entire salt formations, while field studies document ground truth at multiple scales. The volume is structured into seven themes: Microphysical processes and creep models Laboratory testing Geological isolation systems and geotechnical barriers Analytical and numerical modelling Monitoring and site-specific studies Cavern and borehole abandonment and integrity Energy storage in salt caverns The Mechanical Behavior of Salt X will appeal to graduate students, academics, engineers and professionals working in the fields of salt mechanics, salt mining and geological storage of energy and wastes, but also to researchers in rock physics in general.

Technical contributions contained in this volume characterize continuity of science, engineering and modeling regarding the mechanical behavior of salt. These papers evidence relationships from microscopic dislocation structure to modeling applications over kilometer dimensions, a reach of more than ten orders of magnitude. The book is arranged alo

A unique opportunity to review the latest progress in an expanding area of interest: the Mechanical Behaviour of Salt. These Proceedings include over fifty papers and summaries describing the latest findings in ongoing studies from a number of research groups. For the 2007 conference, there was a particular focus on the understanding of thermal, mechanical, hydraulic and chemical coupled processes (THMC). Such processes are of specific interest when considering advanced problems in waste disposal, storage and mining. The book includes a number of themes: - laboratory and in-situ investigations modelling, e.g. derivation of constitutive equations - numerical computations and prediction of long-term behaviour - THMC processes in mining projects, storage and permanent disposal - case studies - geology - mining and storage applications and abandonment The International Conferences on the Mechanical Behaviour of Salt have a long tradition, being initiated in 1981 at The Pennsylvania State University, USA. The present conference, the sixth of the series, took place in Hannover, Germany, in May 2007. The conference brought together mining engineers, researchers, and university professors interested in the mechanical behaviour of salt, mostly from Europe and beyond.

Papers cover: laboratory and in-situ testing; coupled effects and permeability; creep damage and dilatancy; constitutive modelling; crushed salt behaviour; numerical modelling; storage and disposal projects; mining applications; case studies; and salt pillars and cavities.