Modélisations physique et numérique de la zone endommagée autour de galeries dans une formation argileuse dans le contexte d'un dépôt géologique
The research aims at better describing and understanding the failure mechanisms and the anisotropic fracture patterns that develop during the construction of galleries in the Boom Clay formation (Belgium). For this purpose, experiments on thick-walled hollow cylindrical specimens that are mimicking at reduced-scale gallery excavation will be performed. A thorough testing campaign is foreseen with different testing conditions to assess their influence on the development and the evolution of the "Excavation Damaged Zone" (EDZ). In addition, numerical simulations of the hollow cylinder experiments will be performed in order to assess the capability of existing constitutive models to adequately reproduce the observed mechanical anisotropy.