Shear strength of interface between high-performance concrete and claystone in the context of a French radioactive waste repository project

The Callovo-Oxfordian (COx) claystone is chosen as a potential geological barrier for the geological repository of radioactive waste in France, and high-performance concrete is used as a sealing plug and lining in repository facilities. In this study, the shear strength of the interface between the concrete and claystone is investigated in particular. Ultra-high-performance (UHP) concrete is directly cast and cured beside a COx claystone semi-cylinder to make a cylindrical specimen including an interface. First, a microscopic analysis of the interface surfaces using scanned electronic microscope images is presented. It is shown that the adhesion of the UHP concrete to the COx claystone is of good quality and there is almost no initial interface aperture between the two materials. By using a home-designed original device, a series of direct shear tests is performed on cylinder specimens with interface under different confining stresses. The interface deformation and shear strength are quantitatively analysed. It is found that the interface has a bonded cohesion and the shear strength can be approximated by a non-linear function of normal stress. In most cases, the shear deformation does not generate an opening but rather a closure of the interface. The morphology of the sheared interface is also analysed by optical microscopic scanning images.