Experimental Investigation of Water‐Sand Mixed Fluid Initiation and Migration in Filling Fracture Network during Water Inrush

Abstract

For water inrush induced by fracture network flow, the critical velocity of the incipient motion of sand particles was obtained, and the functional relation between critical velocity and particle size was established through a series of tests on the nonlinear flow characteristics of a filling fracture network. The influence of the particle size distribution, hydrodynamic force, and geometric features of the fracture network on the characteristics of particle loss; distribution laws; and water-sand, two-phase migration was also explored. Moreover, the interactions amongst water, movable particles, the surface of the skeleton, and fracture walls, and the formation mechanism of the flow channel were qualitatively analyzed. In addition, the change rules of the mass loss characteristics and porosity of the samples with time were tested successfully. The calculation methods of the permeability and non-Darcy factor of the filling fracture network were also determined.