Properties of a pair of fracture networks produced by triaxial deformation experiments: insights on fluid flow using discrete fracture network models

Trullenque, Ghislain; Parashar, Rishi; Delcourt, Clément; Collet, Lucille; Villard, Pauline; Potel, Sébastien

doi:10.1007/s10040-016-1468-x

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 33 publications

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“…Correlating aperture with length leads to the propensity for longer fractures along fracture set 1 and concentrated fluid flow in that direction. This effect is less pronounced in the constant aperture case because all fractures are given equal weight to conduct flow, and the overall flow distribution within the network reflect the propagation of the boundary conditions into the network structure (Reeves et al 2013;Trullenque et al 2017). In both cases, the maximum permeability does not align perfectly with orientation set 1, because fractures in orientation sets 2 and 4 also contribute to flow.…”

Section: Flow Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Enhancing fracture-network characterization and discrete-fracture-network simulation with high-resolution surveys using unmanned aerial vehicles

2020

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A workflow is presented that integrates unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery with discrete fracture network (DFN) geometric characterization and quantification of fluid flow. The DFN analysis allows for reliable characterization and reproduction of the most relevant features of fracture networks, including: identification of orientation sets and their characteristics (mean orientation, dispersion, and prior probability); scale invariance in distributions of fracture length and spatial location/clustering; and the distribution of aperture values used to compute network-scale equivalent permeability. A two-dimensional DFN-generation approach honors field data by explicitly reproducing observed multi-scale fracture clustering using a multiplicative cascade process and power law distribution of fracture length. The influence of aperture on network-scale equivalent permeability is investigated using comparisons between a sublinear aperture-to-length relationship and constant aperture. To assess the applicability of the developed methodology, DFN flow simulations are calibrated to pumping test data. Results suggest that even at small scales, UAV surveys capture the essential geometrical properties required for fluid flow characterization. Both the constant and sublinear aperture scaling approaches provide good matches to the pumping test results with only minimal calibration, indicating that the reproduced networks sufficiently capture the geometric and connectivity properties characteristic of the granitic rocks at the study site. The sublinear aperture scaling case honors the directions of dominant fractures that play a critical role in connecting fracture clusters and provides a realistic representation of network permeability.

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Section: Flow Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 95%