Coupled phenomena in 3D fractured media

The frame of this book concerns a problem of common interest at the national and international levels, namely, the disposal of radioactive waste in deep geological repositories. The present work is devoted, more precisely, to near-field hydrogeological aspects involving mass and heat transport phenomena. An overall methodology of analysis and simulation of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical processes in 3-dimensional fractured media is proposed, including: analysis of time series coming from experimental data; simulation of the stochastic 3D fractured medium; homogenization of the hydro-mechanical rock properties to obtain an equivalent continuum; definition of a fully coupled THM model and simulation of a real experiment (FEBEX project at the Grimsel Test Site). The research accomplished constitutes a Herculean work, with very ambitious multidisciplinary objectives given the intrinsic difficulties of the topics addressed. This book should be useful, nevertheless some weak points, for researchers, professors and graduate students in the field of Earth Sciences and I hope you will find it easy to follow and promising for future developments.