A hydraulic conductivity model for unsaturated bentonite-based materials incorporating surface enhanced vapour diffusion.

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Title: A hydraulic conductivity model for unsaturated bentonite-based materials incorporating surface enhanced vapour diffusion.
Authors: LIU, Zhang Rong1 (AUTHOR) zhangrong.liu@enpc.fr, CUI, Yu Jun1 (AUTHOR), YE, Wei Min2 (AUTHOR), CHEN, Yong Gui2 (AUTHOR), WANG, Qiong2 (AUTHOR)
Source: Computers & Geotechnics. Oct2025, Vol. 186, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
Subjects: Soil permeability, Capillary flow, Hydraulic conductivity, Geological repositories, Film flow, Radioactive waste repositories, Bentonite
Abstract: The hydraulic behaviour of bentonite-based materials is crucial for assessing the performance of geological repository for high-level nuclear wastes (HLW). Unlike non-swelling soils, the soil hydraulic conductivity curve (SHCC) of bentonite-based materials upon wetting commonly presents an initial decrease followed by an increase after a certain suction. Despite decades of research, a sound theoretical description of such U-shaped SHCC remains challenging. In this study, a new model was developed by considering the surface enhanced vapour diffusion for the hydraulic conductivity in the dry branch of the U-shaped SHCC and the adsorptive-capillary flow for that in the wet branch. The corresponding differentiated vapour, adsorptive and capillary hydraulic conductivity equations over the entire suction range were established. The surface enhanced vapour diffusion model contains only two parameters defining the extent of surface enhancement relative to the traditional Fickian diffusion and their values can be easily estimated from an experimental SHCC. The adsorptive equation was derived by considering viscous water flow in the form of planar films. The capillary equation was simply the conventional macroscopic one based on the capillary pore network. The performance of the proposed model was evaluated using the experimental SHCCs of six bentonite-based materials with comparison to three existing models (VG-M, GZLH and PDI). Results show that, the proposed model can accurately predict the U-shaped SHCCs of different materials over the entire suction range, while the existing models deviate significantly from the measurements by up to six orders of magnitude. More experimental investigations are needed for further confirming the surface enhanced vapour diffusion effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Computers & Geotechnics is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: A hydraulic conductivity model for unsaturated bentonite-based materials incorporating surface enhanced vapour diffusion.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22LIU%2C+Zhang+Rong%22">LIU, Zhang Rong</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> zhangrong.liu@enpc.fr</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22CUI%2C+Yu+Jun%22">CUI, Yu Jun</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22YE%2C+Wei+Min%22">YE, Wei Min</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22CHEN%2C+Yong+Gui%22">CHEN, Yong Gui</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22WANG%2C+Qiong%22">WANG, Qiong</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Computers+%26+Geotechnics%22">Computers & Geotechnics</searchLink>. Oct2025, Vol. 186, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Soil+permeability%22">Soil permeability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Capillary+flow%22">Capillary flow</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hydraulic+conductivity%22">Hydraulic conductivity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Geological+repositories%22">Geological repositories</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Film+flow%22">Film flow</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Radioactive+waste+repositories%22">Radioactive waste repositories</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Bentonite%22">Bentonite</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: The hydraulic behaviour of bentonite-based materials is crucial for assessing the performance of geological repository for high-level nuclear wastes (HLW). Unlike non-swelling soils, the soil hydraulic conductivity curve (SHCC) of bentonite-based materials upon wetting commonly presents an initial decrease followed by an increase after a certain suction. Despite decades of research, a sound theoretical description of such U-shaped SHCC remains challenging. In this study, a new model was developed by considering the surface enhanced vapour diffusion for the hydraulic conductivity in the dry branch of the U-shaped SHCC and the adsorptive-capillary flow for that in the wet branch. The corresponding differentiated vapour, adsorptive and capillary hydraulic conductivity equations over the entire suction range were established. The surface enhanced vapour diffusion model contains only two parameters defining the extent of surface enhancement relative to the traditional Fickian diffusion and their values can be easily estimated from an experimental SHCC. The adsorptive equation was derived by considering viscous water flow in the form of planar films. The capillary equation was simply the conventional macroscopic one based on the capillary pore network. The performance of the proposed model was evaluated using the experimental SHCCs of six bentonite-based materials with comparison to three existing models (VG-M, GZLH and PDI). Results show that, the proposed model can accurately predict the U-shaped SHCCs of different materials over the entire suction range, while the existing models deviate significantly from the measurements by up to six orders of magnitude. More experimental investigations are needed for further confirming the surface enhanced vapour diffusion effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Computers & Geotechnics is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1016/j.compgeo.2025.107454
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 1
        StartPage: N.PAG
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Soil permeability
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Capillary flow
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Hydraulic conductivity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Geological repositories
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Film flow
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Radioactive waste repositories
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Bentonite
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: A hydraulic conductivity model for unsaturated bentonite-based materials incorporating surface enhanced vapour diffusion.
        Type: main
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      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: LIU, Zhang Rong
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            NameFull: CUI, Yu Jun
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            NameFull: YE, Wei Min
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            NameFull: CHEN, Yong Gui
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            NameFull: WANG, Qiong
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 10
              Text: Oct2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
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              Value: 0266352X
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              Value: 186
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            – TitleFull: Computers & Geotechnics
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