Artificial ground freezing is an effective method for underground constructions in deep alluvium. To study the compressive strength of frozen soil under high ground pressure and high hydraulic pressure, it is necessary to understand the mechanical behaviour of ice that is formed under triaxial compressive stress. A low-temperature triaxial test system was developed and used to study both formation and deformation of columnar ice under hydrostatic pressure. Cylindrical ice specimens 125 mm in height and 61.8 mm in diameter were prepared and tested under constant strain rates. At a strain rate of 5 × 10−5 s−1, the peak axial stress showed a linear increase as the confining pressure increased from 2 to 30 MPa, while the peak deviatoric stress exhibited a slight decrease. At a confining pressure of 30 MPa, the peak deviatoric stress showed a logarithmic increase with the strain rate increasing from 5 × 10−6 to 5 × 10−4 s−1, and the failure strain nearly doubled. A power law relationship between the time to failure and the strain rate was also observed. In this study, each test consistently demonstrated a ductile failure mode, with a noticeable reduction in cracking as the confining pressure increased. Due to the effect of the high confining pressure, crack propagation was suppressed, and an apparent recrystallization after peak stress was observed.

In the UK, disposal of packaged intermediate-level radioactive waste may involve waste packages being placed in a geological disposal facility (GDF) and surrounded by a cementitious backfill. Cracking of the backfill could occur due to a number of mechanisms, and this could affect the post-closure performance of the GDF.

This work has assessed potential cracking in the backfill during the backfilling and early post-closure period of GDF vaults with an open crown space in a higher strength rock. From the comprehensive range of processes considered, three were identified as potentially causing cracking: (1) during backfilling, plastic settlement under solid horizontal surfaces could result in horizontal gaps beneath waste packages; (2) within days of backfilling, early-age thermal contraction of the backfill could result in primarily vertical cracks; (3) over a number of years, expansion of waste packages could result in large horizontal cracks.

A groundwater flow model incorporating a representation of the cracks was used to calculate flows through a backfilled GDF vault, and through the cracks themselves. Including cracks increased the flow rate significantly. A reactive transport model was used to estimate the evolution of the pore water chemistry as groundwater flows through the cracked backfill. Calcite and brucite were predicted to precipitate, with brucite subsequently dissolving. Calcite build-up could seal some cracks.

In this work, nano, micro, and macro-indentation tests under standard or multicycle loading conditions were performed for studying the mechanical behavior of a crown borosilicate glass sample with the objective to study the scale effect in indentation and the influence of cracks formation on the assessment of mechanical properties. When no cracks were initiated during the indenter penetration, especially for low indentation loads, the mechanical properties were deduced by applying different methodologies, (i) Standard (or monocyclic) loading, (ii) Continuous Stiffness Measurement mode, (iii) Constant and progressive multicycle loading, and (iv) Dynamic hardness computation. It has been found independently of the loading conditions, Martens hardness and elastic modulus are approximately 3.3 and 70 GPa, respectively. However, when cracking and chipping are produced during the indentation test, two damage parameters related to hardness and elastic modulus can be used for representing the decrease of the mechanical properties as a function of the relative penetration depth.

À partir d'un modèle de transport d'eau en milieu biphasique et élastique [I. Mrani, J.-C. Bénet, G. Fras, Transport of water in a biconstituant elasticmedium, Appl. Mech. Rev., special issue on Mechanics of swelling 48 (1995) 717–721], on examine dans cette étude les risques de fissurationsinduites par la redistribution d'eau dans un échantillon de forme cylindriqueaprès séchage. La résolution numérique de l'équation de transport de l'eau et del'équation d'équilibre mécanique donnent accès à l'évolution de la teneur eneau, de la déformation et des contraintes dans le milieu. On s'intéressera àl'état du matériau pendant les phases de séchage, de refroidissement et destockage. À l'issue de cette étude, les risques de fissuration sont analyséspour différents scénarios de séchage, qui déterminent l'évolution de l'étathydrique pendant le stockage.

The biological function of the egg shell is as a chamber for embryonic development and from which the chick is able to emerge at the appropriate time. The characteristics which serve this purpose in an optimum way are quite different from the requirements of the table egg industry. Among the challenges imposed by commercial egg production and marketing is the ability to resist fracture damage. The industry sustains economic loss from cracked eggs and at least some of the cracking can be attributed to deficiencies in shell structure. While early research concentrated on the thickness of the shell, more recently there has been an increased emphasis on its fine structure and shape. Egg shell strength has been the subject of much research, but relatively little attention has been paid to the relationship of strength and other shell parameters to breakage under commercial conditions. Where this has been studied, the power of shell measurements to predict breakage has been found to be low. The ultrastructure of the shell has been studied during the past 25 years and this has led to extensive gains in understanding. In the case of the mammillary layer, knowledge has been advanced following the use of plasma etching and scanning electron microscopy. Several structural anomalies have been described which significantly affect shell strength and resistance to breakage. The use of finite element analysis has made possible a definitive description of shell shape and led in turn to useful work on crack generation and shell failure. Studies of the protein content of the shell, which may be an important factor in its crystal growth and structure, are also contributing to our understanding of egg shell architecture.